HSK 3.0 · 500 Words Cumulative

HSK 2 Vocabulary List 2026: The Complete 500 Words (Official)

The HSK 2 Vocabulary List 2026 (HSK 3.0) contains 500 cumulative words — building on the 300 from Level 1 with approximately 200 new words at this level. The additions focus on social interactions, describing reasons and feelings, health, and Chinese cultural knowledge.

⚠️ Warning: Old HSK 2 materials covered only 150 words. The new syllabus requires 500. If you are using pre-2025 textbooks, you are working with an outdated word list.

HSK 2 Vocabulary List 2026 — Overview Image

Key Additions at Level 2

Level 2 introduces vocabulary for more complex social situations. Here are the main categories of new words:

+
Reasons & Causes: Words to explain why: 因为 (because), 所以 (therefore), 为什么 (why).
+
Health & Body: Describing symptoms and visiting a doctor: 疼 (painful), 药 (medicine), 生病 (to fall ill).
+
Directional Verbs: Movement compounds: 进来 (come in), 出去 (go out), 回来 (come back), 上去 (go up).
+
Cultural Vocabulary: Chinese New Year: 过年 (to celebrate New Year), 饺子 (dumplings), 祝福 (blessing).
+
Comparison Words: 比 (compared to), 一样 (same), for making comparison sentences.

1. People & Relationships (人物与关系)

Family, friends, roles, and pronouns — the people around you.

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
爸爸	bàba	Dad	名
妈妈	māma	Mom	名
哥哥	gēge	Older brother	名
姐姐	jiějie	Older sister	名
弟弟	dìdi	Younger brother	名
妹妹	mèimei	Younger sister	名
爷爷	yéye	Grandpa (paternal)	名
奶奶	nǎinai	Grandma (paternal)	名
丈夫	zhàngfu	Husband	名
妻子	qīzi	Wife	名
儿子	érzi	Son	名
女儿	nǚ'ér	Daughter	名
家人	jiārén	Family member	名
朋友	péngyou	Friend	名
同学	tóngxué	Classmate	名
先生	xiānsheng	Mr.; husband	名
女士	nǚshì	Ms.; madam	名
自己	zìjǐ	Oneself; self	代
大家	dàjiā	Everyone; all	代
每	měi	Every; each	代

2. Body & Health (身体与健康)

New at Level 2 — essential for Task #10 (seeing a doctor).

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
身体	shēntǐ	Body; health	名
头	tóu	Head; first	名
手	shǒu	Hand	名
眼睛	yǎnjing	Eye	名
口	kǒu	Mouth	名
疼	téng	Painful; sore	形
生病	shēngbìng	To fall ill	动
看病	kànbìng	To see a doctor	动
药	yào	Medicine; drug	名
医院	yīyuàn	Hospital	名
药店	yàodiàn	Pharmacy	名
休息	xiūxi	To rest	动

3. Food & Drink (饮食)

Includes Level 1 essentials plus new Level 2 items like menus and traditional foods.

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
饺子	jiǎozi	Dumplings	名
包子	bāozi	Steamed stuffed bun	名
面条儿	miàntiáor	Noodles	名
面包	miànbāo	Bread	名
米饭	mǐfàn	Cooked rice	名
鸡蛋	jīdàn	Egg (chicken)	名
肉	ròu	Meat; flesh	名
鱼	yú	Fish	名
菜	cài	Dish; vegetable	名
水果	shuǐguǒ	Fruit	名
苹果	píngguǒ	Apple	名
茶	chá	Tea	名
绿茶	lǜchá	Green tea	名
红茶	hóngchá	Black tea	名
咖啡	kāfēi	Coffee	名
牛奶	niúnǎi	Milk	名
奶茶	nǎichá	Milk tea	名
早饭	zǎofàn	Breakfast	名
午饭	wǔfàn	Lunch	名
晚饭	wǎnfàn	Dinner	名
好吃	hǎochī	Delicious	形
做饭	zuòfàn	To cook	动
饭馆	fànguǎn	Restaurant	名
超市	chāoshì	Supermarket	名

4. Places & Locations (地方与位置)

Buildings, direction words, and position terms — essential for Task #5 (describing places).

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
学校	xuéxiào	School	名
教室	jiàoshì	Classroom	名
医院	yīyuàn	Hospital	名
酒店	jiǔdiàn	Hotel	名
商店	shāngdiàn	Shop; store	名
商场	shāngchǎng	Shopping mall	名
书店	shūdiàn	Bookstore	名
电影院	diànyǐngyuàn	Cinema	名
机场	jīchǎng	Airport	名
车站	chēzhàn	Bus/train station	名
门口	ménkǒu	Entrance; doorway	名
房间	fángjiān	Room	名
楼	lóu	Building; floor	名
上面	shàngmiàn	Above; on top of	名
下面	xiàmiàn	Below; under	名
里面	lǐmiàn	Inside; interior	名
外面	wàimiàn	Outside; exterior	名
前面	qiánmiàn	Front; ahead	名
后面	hòumiàn	Behind; back	名
旁边	pángbiān	Side; beside	名
左边	zuǒbiān	Left side	名
右边	yòubiān	Right side	名

5. Transport & Travel (交通出行)

Key for Task #8 — giving directions and describing travel experiences.

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
飞机	fēijī	Airplane	名
火车	huǒchē	Train	名
公交车	gōngjiāochē	Bus	名
出租车	chūzūchē	Taxi; cab	名
地铁	dìtiě	Subway; metro	名
车	chē	Car; vehicle	名
路	lù	Road; path; way	名
票	piào	Ticket	名
机票	jīpiào	Plane ticket	名
旅游	lǚyóu	To travel; tourism	动
往	wǎng	Towards; to	动、介
打车	dǎchē	To take a taxi	动
走路	zǒulù	To walk	动
近	jìn	Near; close	形
远	yuǎn	Far; distant	形

6. Time & Numbers (时间与数字)

Essential for scheduling, stories, and sequencing events.

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
万	wàn	Ten thousand	数
百	bǎi	Hundred	数
千	qiān	Thousand	数
两	liǎng	Two (before measure words)	数
半	bàn	Half	数
今天	jīntiān	Today	名
明天	míngtiān	Tomorrow	名
昨天	zuótiān	Yesterday	名
今年	jīnnián	This year	名
去年	qùnián	Last year	名
明年	míngnián	Next year	名
早上	zǎoshang	Morning	名
上午	shàngwǔ	Morning (AM)	名
中午	zhōngwǔ	Noon; midday	名
下午	xiàwǔ	Afternoon	名
晚上	wǎnshang	Evening; night	名
小时	xiǎoshí	Hour	名
分钟	fēnzhōng	Minute (duration)	量
星期	xīngqī	Week	名
周	zhōu	Week; cycle	名
时间	shíjiān	Time	名
已经	yǐjīng	Already	副
快要	kuàiyào	To be about to; soon	副
正在	zhèngzài	In the process of	副

7. Actions & Verbs — Key Selection (动作动词)

Level 2 adds many directional compounds and separable verbs (离合词). This is a selection of the most important new verbs.

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Note
帮忙	bāngmáng	To help; to do a favor	离合词
跑步	pǎobù	To run; to jog	离合词
跳舞	tiàowǔ	To dance	离合词
游泳	yóuyǒng	To swim	离合词
上班	shàngbān	To go to work	离合词
下班	xiàbān	To get off work	离合词
上课	shàngkè	To go to class	离合词
下课	xiàkè	To finish class	离合词
上学	shàngxué	To go to school	离合词
上网	shàngwǎng	To go online	离合词
过年	guònián	To celebrate New Year	离合词
回来	huílái	To come back	趋向补语
回去	huíqù	To go back	趋向补语
进来	jìnlái	To come in	趋向补语
出去	chūqù	To go out	趋向补语
出来	chūlái	To come out	趋向补语
起来	qǐlái	To get up; to start	趋向补语
下来	xiàlái	To come down	趋向补语
过来	guòlái	To come over	趋向补语
告诉	gàosu	To tell; to inform	动
介绍	jièshào	To introduce	动
准备	zhǔnbèi	To prepare	动
比较	bǐjiào	To compare; relatively	动、副
知道	zhīdào	To know	动
记得	jìde	To remember	动

8. Adjectives & Emotions (形容词与感受)

Describing people, objects, and feelings — key for Task #2 (events) and Task #15 (work).

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
高兴	gāoxìng	Happy; glad; pleased	形
快乐	kuàilè	Happy; joyful	形
舒服	shūfu	Comfortable; feeling well	形
累	lèi	Tired; weary	形、动
忙	máng	Busy	形、动
有意思	yǒu yìsi	Interesting; meaningful	形
没意思	méi yìsi	Boring; uninteresting	形
漂亮	piàoliang	Beautiful; pretty	形
好看	hǎokàn	Good-looking	形
好听	hǎotīng	Pleasant to hear	形
好玩儿	hǎowánr	Fun; amusing	形
不错	bùcuò	Not bad; pretty good	形
贵	guì	Expensive	形
便宜	piányí	Cheap; inexpensive	形
快	kuài	Fast; quick; soon	形、副
慢	màn	Slow	形
高	gāo	Tall; high	形、名
近	jìn	Near; close	形
远	yuǎn	Far; distant	形
晴	qíng	Sunny; clear (weather)	形
阴	yīn	Cloudy; overcast	形

9. Grammar Words & Particles (语法词汇)

These small words carry big grammatical meaning. Many are new at Level 2.

Hanzi	Pinyin	English	Type
着	zhe	Particle: continuous aspect	助
过	guo	Particle: past experience	助
得	de	Particle: verb/adj to complement	助
地	de	Particle: adverbial link	助
因为	yīnwèi	Because	介、连
所以	suǒyǐ	So; therefore	连
虽然	suīrán	Although; though	连
但是	dànshì	But; however	连
但	dàn	But; however; yet	连
还是	háishi	Or; still	副、连
比	bǐ	To compare; than	动、介
给	gěi	To give; for; to	动
跟	gēn	With; to follow	介、连
从	cóng	From; via	介
往	wǎng	Towards; to	动、介
别	bié	Do not; other	副
已经	yǐjīng	Already	副
经常	jīngcháng	Often; frequently	副
一起	yīqǐ	Together	副
为什么	wèishénme	Why	代

How to Study These 500 Words

500 words is a significant leap. Here are the strategies that work best at this level.

✓
Learn Words in Context
The 17 tasks are your context. Instead of random flashcards, learn the vocabulary for each task as a group — all the health words together, all the travel words together.
✓
Master the Directional Compounds
Words like 回来, 进去, and 出来 are not random — they follow a pattern (verb + 来/去). Once you understand the pattern, you can predict many new words.
✓
Separate the Separable Verbs
离合词 like 帮忙, 跳舞, 游泳 can be split. You can say 帮了他一个忙 (helped him once). Practice these separately from regular verbs.
✓
Use Spaced Repetition
The Pass HSK app uses an SRS system specifically calibrated for the HSK 2 vocabulary list. Review at the right time, not every day.

Practice All 500 Words

Flashcards, listening drills, and sentence practice — all built around the official HSK 2 word list.

Start Learning Free

No account needed · Free tier forever · Updated for HSK 3.0

Source: The official syllabus released by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation.