Master HSK 4: Complete Vocabulary List and Study Guide

By Felipe / Last updated January 14, 2025

If you have made it past HSK 3 and start venturing into HSK 4, you are leaving the beginner zone and entering intermediate territory. This guide will cover everything you need to know about HSK 4, including a complete HSK 4 vocabulary list, grammar points, and effective study strategies. Let's go!

Quick Note: This guide focuses on HSK version 2.0. Although HSK 3.0 has been announced, it hasn't been fully implemented yet and the current HSK 2.0 format remains relevant.

HSK 4 Vocabulary: How Many Words Are There?

HSK 4 introduces 600 new words and 446 distinct characters, bringing your total vocabulary to 1,200 words and 1,064 characters by the end of this level. This leap allows you to handle more complex conversations, making HSK 4 kind of the bridge to fluency.

What to Expect from HSK 4: Vocabulary and Grammar

Starting out learning Chinese, most grammar structures are very different from English, so internalizing them requires some mental gymnastics. However, if you managed to learn all the grammar from HSK 1, 2, and 3, there won't be any big challenges in HSK 4. Sure, there are lots of new grammar points, but most of them make sense when simply looking at their definitions in a dictionary.

Vocabulary-wise, HSK 4 comes with a massive increase in words, which finally enables having more diverse conversations. There are many new nouns but the biggest improvement comes from the amount of adjectives and verbs that allow you to express yourself with more nuance. You will find that you finally start sounding more like a grown-up and can express your thoughts in more detail.

Vocabulary Highlights

A new issue arises as more and more grammar structures and words are introduced: redundancy. There are often many different ways to say the same thing in different contexts or with slightly different connotations. Here are just a few examples:

• 办法/辦法 (bànfǎ, introduced in HSK 3) vs. 方法 (fāngfǎ): Both mean "method" or "way of doing something"

• 认为/認爲 (rènwéi, introduced in HSK 3) vs. 以为/以爲 (yǐwéi): Both can mean "to think" or "to believe"

• 开心/開心 (kāixīn) vs. 幸福/幸福 (xìngfú): Both mean "happy"

• 本来/本來 (běnlái) vs 原来/原來 (yuánlái): Both mean "originally"

There are a lot more of these, but listing them all goes beyond the scope of this article. A great resource for these kinds of things is the Chinese grammar wiki.

How Not to Study HSK 4 Vocab

It's important to understand the subtle differences between similar words or you will have to pay for it later. In my own experience, this is especially true when studying without a teacher, tutor, or language buddy.

I studied most of HSK 3 and 4 by myself and somewhat learnt all those words. However, I had no idea when to use which in an active conversation. When I started getting lessons again, I had to take two steps back and get all those little things sorted out before I could progress further. Don't be like me 😉

What Studying HSK 4 Feels Like

Has anyone ever told you that learning Chinese is a marathon and not a sprint? Like any long distance activity, you start out feeling fresh and unstoppable. However, after a while you notice the first signs of fatigue. You check how far you have come so far and with great dread you realize that you are only one eighth of the way to your goal (comparing HSK 3 to HSK 6). Suddenly, negative thoughts creep up on you. "If I already spent this much time and effort to make it here, how am I ever going to make it to the finish line?" This is what HSK 4 feels like for many people.

I know plenty of stories where people made it to HSK 3, but then lost their spirit on the way to HSK 4. The problem is that giving up at this point will leave you with some basic Chinese that doesn't really get you anywhere. It's something, but it's not enough to watch any TV shows, have proper conversations, or read books. It's like signing up for a marathon and not making the 10K. If you want to get good at Chinese, embracing the HSK 4 grind is going to be a challenge you have to overcome.

Should You Take The HSK 4 Test?

Go for it if you want to or if it is a requirement for a job or university program you want to get into. Furthermore, passing the HSK 4 test will make you a hero in my eyes (as if that meant anything). It shows that you have found a sustainable way of learning Chinese and, in the process, have already left the vast majority of Chinese learners behind. Now you just have to keep going for a few more years! 😋

Closing Thoughts

So how do you set yourself up for success? The key to maintaining your Chinese learning progress is to make the process sustainable. Burnout from Chinese learning is a real thing. Set realistic goals and pace yourself. Take breaks every now and then to let your brain digest everything it has learned. That's definitely something I would do more if I were to learn Chinese again. And finally, measure your progress. After you have found a sustainable pace, the only thing left to do is trusting the process and not stopping. As long as you are making progress you will eventually get to where you want to be.

Until next time, happy learning! 🚀

Full HSK 4 Vocabulary List

Ready to dive into the full vocabulary list? Here you go:

• HSK 4 Vocabulary List (Excel)

• HSK 4 Vocabulary List (PDF)

For a more interactive experience, explore our dictionary, which includes example sentences and audio for all HSK words.