HSK 4 Vocabulary List: 2,000 Words (HSK 3.0)
HSK 4 has 2,000 words in HSK 3.0, 1,000 of them new at this level (the old HSK 2.0 list had 1,200). Fluentide has 302 free stories at the Intermediate (HSK 4) level that use them, with transcript and pinyin.
By Haoshan Hong · Native Mandarin speaker · Updated October 2026
Hear HSK 4 words in a real story
胡迪尼的大象与好奇心
Economist Bartleby Column: Andrew Palmer on the Hidden Costs of Workplace Curiosity
2 min
What is on the HSK 4 word list?
The other 1,000 come from HSK 1–3. They cover opinion, comparison, and evaluation: the words you need to say what you think, not just what happened.
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HSK 4 word list
All 1,978 words from the official HSK 3.0 syllabus, the 990 new at HSK 4 first. The syllabus counts 2,000 because a few words are listed once per reading; here each appears once.
Pinyin from the syllabus, definitions from CC-CEDICT. Tap a word for its other senses.
Showing 1901–1950 of 1,978 · page 39 of 40
五wǔHSK 1five
午饭wǔfànHSK 1lunch
- lunch
- CL:份,顿,次,餐
喜欢xǐhuanHSK 1to like
- to like
- to be fond of
- to be happy
- to be pleased
- to tend to
下xiàHSK 1down
- down
- downwards
- below
- lower
- later
- next (week etc)
- second (of two parts)
- to decline
- to go down
- to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc)
- measure word to show the frequency of an action
下班xiàbānHSK 1to finish work
- to finish work
- to get off work
- next service (train, bus etc)
下课xiàkèHSK 1to finish class
- to finish class
- to get out of class
- (fig.) (esp. of a sports coach) to be dismissed
- to be fired
下午xiàwǔHSK 1afternoon
- afternoon
- CL:个
- p.m.
下雨xià yǔHSK 1to rain
先生xiānshengHSK 1Mr.
- Mr.
- sir
- husband
- teacher
- gentleman
- sir
- mister (Mr.)
- husband
- CL:位
- (dialect) doctor
现在xiànzàiHSK 1now
- now
- at present
- currently
想xiǎngHSK 1to think (about)
- to think (about)
- to think of
- to devise
- to think (that)
- to believe (that)
- to desire
- to want (to)
- to miss (feel wistful about the absence of)
小xiǎoHSK 1small
- small
- tiny
- few
- young
小朋友xiǎopéngyǒuHSK 1child
- child
- kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to refer to sb's own child)
小时xiǎoshíHSK 1hour
小学xiǎoxuéHSK 1elementary school
- elementary school
- primary school
小学生xiǎoxuéshēngHSK 1primary school student
- primary school student
- schoolchild
- CL:个,名
- (fig.) beginner
些xiēHSK 1classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several
- classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several
写xiěHSK 1to write
- to write
- used in 写意
谢谢xièxieHSK 1to thank
- to thank
- thanks
- thank you
新xīnHSK 1new
- new
- newly
- meso- (chemistry)
- surname Xin
- abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆
- abbr. for Singapore 新加坡
星期xīngqīHSK 1week
- week
- CL:个
- day of the week
- Sunday
星期日xīngqīrìHSK 1Sunday
- Sunday
星期天xīngqītiānHSK 1Sunday
- Sunday
休息xiūxiHSK 1rest
学xuéHSK 1to learn
- to learn
- to study
- to imitate
- science
- -ology
学生xuéshēngHSK 1student
- student
- schoolchild
学习xuéxíHSK 1to learn
- to learn
- to study
学校xuéxiàoHSK 1school
雪xuěHSK 1snow
- snow
- CL:场
- (literary) to wipe away (a humiliation etc)
- surname Xue
要yàoHSK 1to want
- to want
- to need
- to ask for
- will
- shall
- about to
- need to
- should
- if (same as 要是)
- (bound form) important
- (bound form) to demand
- to coerce
也yěHSK 1also
- also
- too
- as well
- (not ...) either
- (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X)
- (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊
- surname Ye
一yīHSK 1one
- one
- single
- a (article)
- as soon as
- entire
- whole
- all
- throughout
- "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
- also pr. for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
一半yíbànHSK 1half
- half
一点儿yìdiǎnrHSK 1a bit
- a bit
- a little bit
- (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit
一下yíxiàHSK 1(after a verb) a bit
- (after a verb) a bit
- a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try)
- all at once
- suddenly
一些yìxiēHSK 1some
- some
- a few
- a little
- (following an adjective) slightly ...er
衣服yīfuHSK 1clothes
- clothes
- CL:件,套
医生yīshēngHSK 1doctor
- doctor
- medical practitioner
医院yīyuànHSK 1hospital
- hospital
- CL:所,家,座
椅子yǐziHSK 1chair
有yǒuHSK 1to have
- to have
- there is
- (bound form) having
- with
- -ful
- -ed
- -al (as in 有意 intentional)
有的yǒudeHSK 1(there are) some (who are...)
- (there are) some (who are...)
- some (exist)
有点儿yǒudiǎnrHSK 1slightly
- slightly
- a little
- somewhat
有些yǒuxiēHSK 1some
- some
- somewhat
- rather
- a bit
雨yǔHSK 1rain
- rain
- CL:阵,场
- (of rain, snow etc) to fall
- to precipitate
- to wet
- (literary) to rain
元yuánHSK 1currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan)
- currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan)
- (bound form) first
- original
- primary
- (bound form) basic
- fundamental
- (bound form) constituent
- part
- (prefix) meta-
- (math.) argument
- variable
- era (of a reign)
- (Tw) (geology) eon
- surname Yuan
- Yuan dynasty (1279–1368)
月yuèHSK 1month
- month
- moon
- moon
- month
- monthly
- CL:个,轮
再zàiHSK 1again
- again
- once more
- re-
- further
- beyond this point of time
- (before an adjective) more
- then (after sth, and not until then)
- no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也 or 都 for emphasis)
- (used to introduce additional information, as in 再则, 再就是 etc)
- (literary) to reappear
- to reoccur
再见zàijiànHSK 1goodbye
- goodbye
- see you again later
在zàiHSK 1to exist
- to exist
- to be alive
- (of sb or sth) to be (located) at
- (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
Stories that use these HSK 4 words
Each one is a Fluentide Intermediate (HSK 4) story, written inside that word band. Press play; the first few need no account.
HSK 2 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 3 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 4 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 5+ Chinese listening episodes
How to actually learn HSK 4 vocabulary
Reading a word on a page and catching it at speed in a sentence are different skills. The HSK listening section tests the second.
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The method in practice
Hear HSK 4 vocabulary in real Mandarin
Each HSK 4 episode uses this word band, with the transcript, pinyin and line-by-line English. Five free episodes after a one-tap magic-link sign-in — no password, no payment.