Master HSK 1: Complete Vocabulary List and Beginner's Guide

By Felipe / Last updated July 1, 2025

If you're just starting your Chinese learning journey, HSK 1 is where it all begins! HSK 1 is the first of 6 levels in the official HSK Chinese proficiency test. It introduces you to essential words and sentence patterns for basic everyday conversations.

This guide will cover exactly what you can do with HSK 1, what you can't do yet, and how to make the most of your time with the HSK 1 vocabulary list.

Quick Note: This guide focuses on HSK version 2.0, which is still the version being tested and taught in most schools. HSK 3.0 has been announced, but it isn't fully rolled out yet.

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HSK 1 Vocabulary: How Many Words Are There?

HSK 1 contains 150 words using about 174 distinct characters. This does not sound like a lot, but these words form the foundation for all future progress. You'll learn basic pronouns, verbs, numbers, question words, and useful measure words.

What You Can Do With HSK 1

Here's a taste of what you'll be able to say once you master the HSK 1 vocabulary:

Introduce yourself: You can introduce yourself, "My name is ... " (wǒ jiào ...), and ask others for their name, "What's your name?" (nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?).

Talk about things you like: You can express that you like or dislike something, using "xǐhuan" (喜欢 / 喜歡). Combining this with other words from the list, you could say things like, "I like my mother" (wǒ xǐhuan wǒ de māma), or, “I don't like you" (wǒ bù xǐhuan nǐ).

Talk about food: You can say things like, "I want to eat rice" (wǒ xiǎng chī mǐfàn) or "I want to drink water" (wǒ xiǎng hē shuǐ).

Ask questions: You can ask simple questions using the question particle "ma" (吗 / 嗎). For example, "Do you want to eat rice?" (nǐ xiǎng chī mǐfàn ma?) or "Do you like me?" (nǐ xǐhuan wǒ ma?).

Use measure words: Chinese requires the use of measure words when talking about the quantity of objects. For example, it is not possible to say "three books" as "sān shū" (三书 / 三書). Instead, the measure word for books needs to be added, "sān běn shū" (三本书 / 三本書). HSK 1 introduces the most common measure word, "ge" (个 / 個).

Talk about locations: You can ask for the location of things or persons. For example, "Where are you?" (nǐ zài nǎr?), or, "Where is the hotel?" (fàndiàn zài nǎr?).

Talk about times: You can ask about specific dates, for example, "When do you go to Beijing?" (nǐ shénme shíhou qù Běijīng?). You can also answer such questions, for example with, "I go to Beijing on the 4th of June" (wǒ liù yuè sì hào qù Běijīng).

Ask for the price: You can ask for the price of things, for example, "What's the price of this book?" (zhè běn shū duōshao qián?).

What You Can't Do With HSK 1

Although the word list for HSK 1 is rather short, it covers a large range of very common sentence structures. This is a great base to build upon, but there are two things preventing HSK 1 itself from being useful.

First, the vocabulary is too limited. Menus in Chinese restaurants usually don't just say "rice", "apple", and "water". Furthermore, you might be able to ask where the hotel is, but you don't know how to give any directions yet, so you won't understand the answer. Lastly, any conversation only consisting of HSK 1 words would be somewhere between pointless and extremely boring.

The second problem is that natives neither know nor care about the HSK. This is of course natural but it's something that I always found extremely frustrating. No matter how carefully you craft your question, there are usually a dozen possible answers of which not a single one was in your textbooks. But hey, that's life.

Is HSK 1 Enough?

No, you won't be able to hold full conversations or read much with HSK 1 alone. But it's a huge milestone because it teaches the most fundamental sentence structures, tones, measure words, and particles that you'll keep using all the way to fluency.

If you're wondering whether to take the official test: It's up to you! Passing HSK 1 can be a nice motivation boost, but in real life, it won't unlock much by itself.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, I think HSK 1 does a good job of introducing new learners to the world of Chinese. You have to start somewhere, and HSK 1 is a great place to begin. Keep your goals realistic, celebrate the basics you master, and keep building your vocabulary step by step.

If you want to make faster progress, check out our tone practice guide and online dictionary with example sentences and audio for all HSK words.

Until next time — happy learning! 🤓

Full HSK 1 Vocabulary List

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For a more interactive experience, our online dictionary shows HSK levels and example sentences for each word.