HSK Level 4
The first Intermediate level. At 3,245 cumulative words, HSK 4 is where learners move beyond daily survival Chinese and start engaging with abstract topics, opinions, and structured argumentation.
What You’ll Learn at HSK 4
- ✓Discuss abstract concepts — attitudes, values, principles, and social issues
- ✓Express and defend viewpoints using formal rhetorical structures
- ✓Read editorials, opinion pieces, and longer informational texts
- ✓Write structured paragraphs with clear argumentation and supporting evidence
- ✓Understand Chinese media content including news summaries and interviews
- ✓Navigate professional environments including meetings and formal correspondence
Sample Vocabulary — HSK 4
15 representative words from the HSK 4 list. The full cumulative list contains 3,245 words.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 态度 | tàidu | attitude | noun |
| 精神 | jīngshén | spirit / mental | noun |
| 意义 | yìyì | meaning / significance | noun |
| 价值 | jiàzhí | value / worth | noun |
| 观点 | guāndiǎn | viewpoint / perspective | noun |
| 原则 | yuánzé | principle | noun |
| 标准 | biāozhǔn | standard / criterion | noun |
| 条件 | tiáojiàn | condition / prerequisite | noun |
| 基础 | jīchǔ | foundation / basis | noun |
| 理论 | lǐlùn | theory | noun |
| 实践 | shíjiàn | practice / to practise | noun/verb |
| 传统 | chuántǒng | tradition / traditional | noun/adj |
| 现代 | xiàndài | modern / contemporary | adj |
| 改变 | gǎibiàn | to change / change | verb/noun |
| 提高 | tígāo | to improve / raise | verb |
Grammar Focus
Topic-comment sentence structure
At HSK 4+, Chinese increasingly front-loads topics: 这个问题，我们要认真研究 (This problem, we must study carefully). The topic is set first, and the rest comments on it — a structure English rarely uses.
Serial verb constructions
Chinese strings verbs together without conjunctions: 他回家吃饭 (He went home to eat). The first verb describes manner or purpose; the second describes the main action. Understanding the implied relationship is key.
The 是…的 focus construction
是…的 highlights specific information within a known event: 他是在北京学的汉语 (It was in Beijing that he studied Chinese). Use it when the event is established but a detail (where, when, how) needs emphasis.
Concessive clauses: 尽管…还是/仍然
尽管 (even though / despite) introduces a concession, while 还是 or 仍然 (still) introduces the main clause. 尽管很难，他们还是坚持了 (Even though it was hard, they persisted).
Study Tips for HSK 4
At HSK 4, the reading passages get substantially longer and more abstract. Train skimming for topic sentences first, then go back for detail — don't read every character under time pressure.
Start a dedicated vocabulary journal for abstract nouns (态度, 价值, 原则). These words rarely appear in everyday speech for lower-level learners, so intentional exposure through reading is the primary acquisition route.
Practice writing both sides of an argument on a single topic. HSK 4 writing tasks often ask you to agree/disagree or compare two positions — having sentence patterns ready for both stances saves exam time.