HSK 3 Vocabulary: Characters and Pinyin

Questions about HSK 3

How many words are in HSK Level 3?

The new HSK 3.0 Level 3 adds 500 new vocabulary terms, for 1,000 words in total through this level.[1]

How many characters do you need for HSK 3?

The new HSK 3.0 Level 3 adds 500 new vocabulary terms, but only 284 new Chinese characters, because many of the new words reuse characters from earlier levels, such as:

• 人 (person): 别人 (others), 客人 (guest), 老人 (old person)
• 天 (day or sky): 春天 (spring), 夏天 (summer), 冬天 (winter)

By the end of this level, you need to know 655 characters in total.[1]

How long does it take to pass each HSK level?

The Chinese HSK becomes more difficult as the levels increase, and upper levels contain more and more vocabulary, which is naturally harder and more advanced as well. For someone very hard-working you may be able to pass HSK 1 or 2 exams with 3-6 months of serious study, but proficiency at upper levels may take a few years to reach. See our full HSK Guide for more guidance.

Where can I download the HSK vocabulary lists?

You can find our full HSK download page here which provides free PDF, CSV, JSON and Anki text file downloads for each level in the new HSK 3.0 syllabus.

Where can I find the other HSK Levels?

The new HSK 3.0 syllabus has nine levels: HSK 1 to 6, then HSK 7–9 as one combined, advanced group.

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