Basic Course Vocabulary List
LESSON 01:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE | PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 我 | wǒ | pr. | I; me | |
| 1 | 叫 | jiào | v. | to call; to be called | |
| 2 | 姓 | xìng | v./n. | last name to be / last name | |
| 1 | 好 | hǎo | adj. | good; well; okay |
EXPRESSIONS
| HSK | CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 你好 | nǐhǎo | hello; hi |
LESSON 02:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE | PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 你 | nǐ | pr. | you | |
| 1 | 什么 | shénme | q pr. | what | |
| 1 | 什① | shén | / | / | |
| 1 | 么② | me | / | / |
NOTE: ①② Neither 什 nor 么 is a word. They have to be combined with another character to form a word. You can learn more about Characters vs. Words.
LESSON 03:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE | PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 中 | zhōng | n. | middle; center | |
| 1 | 国 | guó | n. | country; nation | |
| 1 | 中国 | Zhōngguó | pn. | China | |
| 1 | 人 | rén | n. | people; person | |
| 1 | 中国人 | Zhōngguórén | pn. | Chinese (people) | |
| 1 | 是 | shì | v. | to be |
LESSON 04:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE NUMBERS | PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一 | yī | nu. | one | |
| 1 | 二 | èr | nu. | two | |
| 1 | 三 | sān | nu. | three | |
| 1 | 四 | sì | nu. | four | |
| 1 | 五 | wǔ | nu. | five | |
| 1 | 六 | liù | nu. | six | |
| 1 | 七 | qī | nu. | seven | |
| 1 | 八 | bā | nu. | eight | |
| 1 | 九 | jiǔ | nu. | nine | |
| 1 | 十 | shí | nu. | ten | |
LESSON 05:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 岁 | suì | n. | year; age | |
| 1 | 几 | jǐ | q pr. | what number; which number | |
| 1 | 多 | duō | adv. | how much | |
| 1 | 大 | dà | adj. | big; old |
LESSON 06:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 他 | tā | pr. | singular male third person pronoun he; him |
|
| 1 | 她 | tā | pr. | singular female third person pronoun she; her |
|
| 1 | 们 | men | p. | plural particle for words referring people | |
| 1 | 他们 | tāmen | pr. | plural third person pronouns they; them (male) |
|
| 1 | 她们 | tāmen | pr. | plural third person pronouns they; them (female) |
|
| 1 | 你们 | nǐmen | pr. | plural second person pronouns you guys |
|
| 1 | 我们 | wǒmen | pr. | plural first person pronouns we; us |
LESSON 07:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 的 | de | p. | possessive particle | |
| 1 | 名 | míng | n. | name | |
| 1 | 字 | zì ① | n. | character; name (in classic Chinese) |
|
| 1 | 名字 | míngzi | n. | name |
NOTES:
① 字 is pronounced in the 4th Tone as a single character, but is pronounced in the Neutral Tone in the word 名字.
LESSON 08:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 爸爸 | bàba | n. | dad | |
| 1 | 妈妈 | māma | n. | mom | |
| 1 | 朋友 | péngyou ① | n. | friend |
|
| 1 | 谁 | shuí; shéi | q pr. | who |
NOTES:
① 友 is pronounced in the 3rd Tone yǒu as a single character, but is pronounced in the Neutral Tone in the word 朋友.
LESSON 09:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 吗 | ma | q p. | yes or no question particle | |
| 2 | 哥哥 | gēge | n. | big brother | |
| 2 | 姐姐 | jiějie | n. | big sister |
|
| 2 | 弟弟 | dìdi | n. | little brother | |
| 2 | 妹妹 | mèimei | n. | little sister |
LESSON 10:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 不 | bú; bù | adv. | no; not | |
| 1 | 认识 | rènshi | v. | to know | |
| 1 | 老师 | lǎoshī | n. | teacher |
|
| 1 | 女儿 | nǚ'ér | n. | daughter | |
| 1 | 儿子 | érzi | n. | son |
LESSON 11:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 您 | nín | pr. | you (singular; respectfully) | |
| 2 | 早上 | zǎoshàng | t. | morning | |
| 2 | 晚上 | wǎnshàng | t. | evening; night |
EXPRESSIONS
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 您好 | nínhǎo | interj. | hello (respectfully; to one person) | |
| 1 | 再见 | zàijiàn | interj. | goodbye | |
| 2 | 早上好 | zǎoshànghǎo | interj. | good morning | |
| 2 | 晚上好 | wǎnshànghǎo | interj. | good evening | |
| 3 | 晚安 | wǎn'ān | interj. | good night |
LESSON 12:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 谢 | xiè | v. | to thank | |
| 3 | 用 | yòng | v. | to use | |
| 3 | 不用 | búyòng | v.p. | no need to | |
| 1 | 客气 | kèqi | adj. | polite (as a guest) | |
| 2 | 对 | duì | v. | to treat | |
| 1 | 没 | méi | adv. | not (have) | |
| 1 | 关系 | guānxi | n. | relationship; impact |
EXPRESSIONS
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 谢谢 | xièxie | interj. | thanks | |
| 1 | 谢谢你 | xièxienǐ | interj. | thank you | |
| 1 | 不客气 | búkèqi | interj. | don't be polite; you're welcome | |
| 1 | 不用谢 | búyòngxiè | interj. | no need to thank; you're welcome | |
| 1 | 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | interj. | sorry | |
| 1 | 没关系 | méiguānxi | interj. | it doesn't matter; it's okay |
LESSON 13:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 年 | nián | n. | year | |
| 1 | 月 | yuè | n. | month; the moon | |
| 1 | 日 | rì | n. | day; the sun | |
| 2 | 号 | hào | n. | day; No. | |
| 1 | 零 | líng | nu. | zero | |
| 2 | 生 | shēng | v. / n. | to give birth / life | |
| 2 | 生日 | shēngrì | n. | birthday |
LESSON 14:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 现在 | xiànzài | t. | now; right now | |
| 1 | 点 | diǎn | n. | o'clock | |
| 1 | 分 | fēn | n. | minute | |
| 2 | 两 | liǎng | nu. | two | |
| 1 | 上午 | shàngwǔ | t. | morning; before noon | |
| 1 | 中午 | zhōngwǔ | t. | noon | |
| 1 | 下午 | xiàwǔ | t. | afternoon |
EXPRESSIONS
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 上午好 | shàngwǔhǎo | interj. | good morning | |
| 1 | 中午好 | zhōngwǔhǎo | interj. | good noon | |
| 1 | 下午好 | xiàwǔhǎo | interj. | good afternoon |
LESSON 15:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 天 | tiān | n. | day; sky | |
| 1 | 今天 | jīntiān | t. | today | |
| 1 | 明天 | míngtiān | t. | tomorrow | |
| 1 | 昨天 | zuótiān | t. | yesterday | |
| 1 | 星期 | xīngqī | n. | week | |
| 1 | 周 | zhōu | n. | week |
LESSON 16:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 个 | ge ① | mw. | measure word for things without a special measure word | |
| 1 | 苹果 | píngguǒ | n. | apple | |
| 1 | 有 | yǒu | v. | to have (something) | |
| 1 | 没有 | méiyǒu | v. | to not have (something) |
NOTES:
① 个 is pronounced in the 4th Tone gè by itself or sometimes in a word. But when used as a Measure Word, it is pronounced in the Neutral Tone.
LESSON 17:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 这 | zhè | pr. | this | |
| 1 | 那 | nà | pr. | that | |
| 3 | 位 | wèi | mw. | a polite measure word for people | |
| 1 | 先生 | xiānsheng | n. | mister; gentleman | |
| 1 | 小姐 | xiǎojiě | n. | miss; young lady |
LESSON 18:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 哪 | nǎ | pr. | which | |
| 1 | 东西 | dōngxi | n. | thing; stuff | |
| 1 | 同学 | tóngxué | n. | classmate | |
| 1 | 学生 | xuésheng | n. | student |
LESSON 19:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 多 ① | duō | adj. | many; much; a lot | |
| 1 | 少 | shǎo | adj. | a little bit; not a lot | |
| 1 | 多少 | duōshao | q pr. | how many; how much | |
| 1 | 块 | kuài | mw. | measure word for RMB and wristwatch | |
| 1 | 钱 | qián | n. | money | |
| 1 | 本 | běn | mw. | measure word for books | |
| 1 | 书 | shū | n. | book | |
| 2 | 手表 | shǒubiǎo | n. | wristwatch | |
| 2 | 手机 | shǒujī | n. | cellphone | |
| 2 | 部 | bù | mw. | measure word for cellphone |
NOTES: ① In Lesson 5, we also used 多 to ask the question 你多大 how old are you. In that situation 多 is used as an adverb to modify the adjective 大 big.
LESSON 20:
VOCABULARY
| HSK | CHINESE |
PINYIN | P.O.S | ENGLISH | AUDIO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 吃 | chī | v. | to eat | |
| 1 | 喝 | hē | v. | to drink | |
| 1 | 茶 | chá | n. | tea | |
| 1 | 水 | shuǐ | n. | water | |
| 1 | 米饭 | mǐfàn | n. | (cooked) rice | |
| 1 | 喜欢 | xǐhuan | v. | to like | |
| / | 可乐 ① |
kělè | n. | cola |
NOTES:
① 可乐 is not in the list for any level of HSK vocabulary, but it is a very useful word so we decided to include it in our basic course.
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Thank you for the course. I’ll go to the next level now.
I had so much fun doing this course and learning Chinese. I’m really enjoying every second of it. Now, I’ll jump straight to the HSK1 course!
This is a great course. I learned a quite bit. Xie Xie!
thank you very much LIli, for providing this kind of method of learning Chinese , I am a beginner but now I am very comfortable with this kind of method. I am very confident by this kind of method.
Hope someday there will be face to face online talking session for practicing.
Regards
Get a free ultimate chart covering every bit of information taught by this course!
Since there is no downloadable version of this page as yet, I have spent hours and hours creating an ultimate spreadsheet labeling every single Chinese character, most of the Chinese phrases, every single Chinese radical, and almost every grammar rule and tip covered in this Basic Level Beginner’s Chinese course.
The document itself consists of three separate spreadsheets, one for the vocabulary, phrases, and radicals each. The spreadsheets for the vocabulary and phrases are nearly 175 columns long each and contain information about the Chinese characters, Pinyin translations, literal English translations, normal English translations, grammatical rules, and tips about the Mandarin covered specifically by this course.
For all of those interested in having a place where all the information taught in this course is compiled into one convenient document, here is the Google Sheets link to the document: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AmmRm-0c48xi1fM89sOsTtXHyC05PmTwD4bofyAL4C4/edit?usp=sharing
Special thanks to Lili and Chuck for teaching me everything I’ve put into this document from their incredible video lessons and quizzes. I thought I might share this so that others who have completed this course will have a place they can refer to on everything they have learned.
I also created three Quizlet sets to help me memorize the characters, two-character words, and radicals covered by this course:
Characters: https://quizlet.com/_6wck41
Words: https://quizlet.com/_6wckl7
Radicals: https://quizlet.com/_6vzmzz
I hope these resources will be a help to everybody else taking this course! Have fun everybody! Cheers! 🙂
Thanks for your hard work, I’m sure our students will appreciate it!
No problem! Thank you for the interesting and informative course.
You’re a legend. 谢谢你！
thank you so much!
I downloaded this before starting this part of the course and I can already see it will be of great help.
Many thanks for this great effort.
You’re legend mate!
谢谢！！
太好了。谢谢你。
Thanks for sharing with us your hard work.
Wonderful！谢谢你！
thank you!
Dear,
thank you for your sharing these file i save them
, and really i hope you progress in Chinese language.
really I am appreciate for your kindness
Thank you for the resources! This is really helpful!
Do you have this for Level 1 too!? 🙂
wow! 谢谢你！
Wow, thank you SO MUCH!
Thank you so much. As a former teacher, I truly appreciate the value of supporting materials. These have cut my study time dramatically! Frankly, this is something that I would think that Chinese For Us would have already incorporated into the course. I’m really hoping that you do the same thing for the HSK Level 1 course.
Another message of thanks ApplePieGiraffe! I have been looking for something exactly like this. Particularly hard i am finding to get good overviews of radicals.
This is great! Thank you so much ApplePieGiraffe!!!!!
Thank you so much for this Basic Level Beginner’s Chinese course! I’ve learned so much from taking this course and enjoyed it as well! Everything was explained clearly and in detail and I’ll have to say because of that Chineseforus is the BEST Mandarin course I have found to date! Cheers! 🙂
Josh, we’re so glad that you enjoy our course! Congratulations on completing the course. Keep up the good work!
This is an awesome list! Thanks a lot. I would appreciate it in a compact PDF format, too. Thanks 🙂
It’s a great idea to include the PDF. For right now if you hit “Ctrl+P” it should automatically create a printable version of this page.
This page is awesome! Can you make a downloadable version of this list of vocabulary and its translation?
It’s a great idea to add the list. We’ll add it to our to-do list. For right now if you hit “Ctrl+P” it should automatically create a printable version of this page.