HSK Level 1
The entry point to Mandarin proficiency. HSK 1 covers the first 500 words — enough for basic greetings, numbers, simple questions, and navigating familiar daily situations.
What You’ll Learn at HSK 1
- ✓Greet people and introduce yourself in Mandarin
- ✓Count from 1 to 100 and use basic numbers in context
- ✓Name everyday objects, family members, and common places
- ✓Ask and answer simple yes/no and wh- questions
- ✓Understand and use basic time expressions (today, tomorrow, yesterday)
- ✓Read and write around 300 of the most common Chinese characters
Sample Vocabulary — HSK 1
20 representative words from the HSK 1 list. The full list contains 500 words.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | hello | phrase |
| 谢谢 | xièxie | thank you | phrase |
| 再见 | zàijiàn | goodbye | phrase |
| 老师 | lǎoshī | teacher | noun |
| 学生 | xuésheng | student | noun |
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | China | noun |
| 北京 | Běijīng | Beijing | noun |
| 一 | yī | one | number |
| 二 | èr | two | number |
| 三 | sān | three | number |
| 好 | hǎo | good / well | adj |
| 大 | dà | big / large | adj |
| 小 | xiǎo | small / little | adj |
| 多 | duō | many / much | adj |
| 少 | shǎo | few / little | adj |
| 今天 | jīntiān | today | noun |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow | noun |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday | noun |
| 喜欢 | xǐhuān | to like | verb |
| 去 | qù | to go | verb |
Grammar Focus
Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order
Chinese follows SVO order like English: 我 (I) 喝 (drink) 茶 (tea). Master this first — it underpins almost every sentence.
The verb 是 (shì) — 'to be'
Used to link nouns: 我是学生 (I am a student). Unlike English, 是 is NOT used with adjectives — you say 她很好, not 她是好.
Question particle 吗 (ma)
Add 吗 to any statement to make a yes/no question: 你好吗？ (Are you well?). No inversion needed — the word order stays the same.
Negation with 不 (bù) and 没 (méi)
不 negates present/future states and actions. 没 negates past actions and the verb 有 (have). 我不喝咖啡 / 我没去.
Study Tips for HSK 1
Learn tones from day one — mispronounced tones change meaning entirely. Use the HSK 1 audio flashcards and repeat each word aloud at least 5 times before moving on.
Write characters by hand, not just digitally. The stroke order enforces the visual structure of each character, which makes recognition faster and retention stronger.
Group vocabulary by topic (family, numbers, places) rather than learning alphabetically. Context clusters make recall during the exam significantly easier.