Chinese vocabulary guide
The First 100 Chinese Words to Learn (With the Actual List)
Quick answer
What are the first 100 Chinese words to learn?
The first 100 Chinese words to learn are the highest-frequency ones: pronouns like 我 (wǒ, I) and 你 (nǐ, you), core verbs like 是 (shì, to be) and 有 (yǒu, to have), numbers, everyday nouns, and question words. They map to HSK 3.0 Level 1, and this page lists all 100 with pinyin and meaning.
Most “first Chinese words” lists tell you the categories to learn and then stop. This one gives you the actual list: 100 words you can start drilling today, chosen because they are the highest-frequency words in HSK 3.0 Level 1 and appear in almost every sentence. Learn these and you own the scaffolding of the language, the pronouns, numbers, core verbs, and question words that everything else hangs off.
- 100
- Words on this list the highest-leverage slice
- 506
- Words in HSK 3.0 Level 1 this list is the top of it
- ~50%
- Of casual speech recognized after all of Level 1
How to use this list
Work top to bottom, learn each word inside a short example sentence, and review with spaced repetition so the early words do not leak out while you add new ones. Do not try to memorize all 100 in a day. Ten a day is a sustainable pace, which puts the whole list inside two weeks. The groups below are ordered so the structural words (pronouns, verbs, question words) come first, because they let you build sentences the soonest.
Pronouns and people (8)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 我 | wǒ | I, me |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 您 | nín | you (polite) |
| 他 | tā | he, him |
| 她 | tā | she, her |
| 我们 | wǒmen | we, us |
| 你们 | nǐmen | you (plural) |
| 他们 | tāmen | they, them |
Question words (7)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 什么 | shénme | what |
| 谁 | shéi | who |
| 哪 | nǎ | which |
| 哪儿 | nǎr | where |
| 怎么 | zěnme | how |
| 多少 | duōshao | how many, how much |
| 几 | jǐ | how many (small number) |
Numbers (12)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | yī | one |
| 二 | èr | two |
| 两 | liǎng | two (of something) |
| 三 | sān | three |
| 四 | sì | four |
| 五 | wǔ | five |
| 六 | liù | six |
| 七 | qī | seven |
| 八 | bā | eight |
| 九 | jiǔ | nine |
| 十 | shí | ten |
| 半 | bàn | half |
Core verbs (18)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 是 | shì | to be |
| 有 | yǒu | to have |
| 要 | yào | to want, will |
| 会 | huì | can, will (able to) |
| 能 | néng | can, be able to |
| 想 | xiǎng | to want, to think |
| 去 | qù | to go |
| 来 | lái | to come |
| 说 | shuō | to speak, to say |
| 看 | kàn | to look, to watch |
| 听 | tīng | to listen |
| 吃 | chī | to eat |
| 喝 | hē | to drink |
| 做 | zuò | to do, to make |
| 喜欢 | xǐhuan | to like |
| 爱 | ài | to love |
| 叫 | jiào | to be called |
| 知道 | zhīdào | to know |
Everyday nouns (16)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 人 | rén | person |
| 家 | jiā | home, family |
| 时候 | shíhou | time, moment |
| 事 | shì | matter, thing (affair) |
| 东西 | dōngxi | thing (object) |
| 钱 | qián | money |
| 水 | shuǐ | water |
| 朋友 | péngyou | friend |
| 老师 | lǎoshī | teacher |
| 学生 | xuésheng | student |
| 学校 | xuéxiào | school |
| 车 | chē | car, vehicle |
| 电话 | diànhuà | telephone |
| 名字 | míngzi | name |
| 妈妈 | māma | mom |
| 爸爸 | bàba | dad |
Time words (8)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 现在 | xiànzài | now |
| 今天 | jīntiān | today |
| 明天 | míngtiān | tomorrow |
| 昨天 | zuótiān | yesterday |
| 年 | nián | year |
| 月 | yuè | month |
| 日 | rì | day (date) |
| 分 | fēn | minute |
Adjectives (10)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 好 | hǎo | good |
| 大 | dà | big |
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 多 | duō | many |
| 少 | shǎo | few |
| 新 | xīn | new |
| 高兴 | gāoxìng | happy |
| 热 | rè | hot |
| 冷 | lěng | cold |
| 快 | kuài | fast |
Function words and adverbs (11)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 的 | de | ’s, of (possessive) |
| 不 | bù | not |
| 没 | méi | not (have) |
| 也 | yě | also |
| 都 | dōu | all |
| 很 | hěn | very |
| 太 | tài | too (excessive) |
| 最 | zuì | most |
| 再 | zài | again |
| 和 | hé | and |
| 在 | zài | at, in |
Everyday expressions (6)
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | hello (你 + 好) |
| 谢谢 | xièxie | thank you |
| 对不起 | duìbùqǐ | sorry |
| 没关系 | méi guānxi | it’s okay |
| 再见 | zàijiàn | goodbye |
| 请 | qǐng | please |
That is 100 words. Notice how much you can already build: 我要水 (wǒ yào shuǐ, I want water), 你叫什么名字 (nǐ jiào shénme míngzi, what is your name), 我们去学校 (wǒmen qù xuéxiào, we go to school). The structural words do the heavy lifting, which is exactly why frequency order beats learning by topic.
Where to go after the first 100
The next 400 words of HSK 3.0 Level 1 round out this same everyday register, and finishing the whole beginner band (Levels 1 to 3, 2,209 words) is the milestone worth aiming at. If you already know some Chinese and are not sure where to start, the free placement test estimates your level from a short recognition check so you drill the right band instead of restarting here. For the full per-level word counts, see how many words are in each HSK level.
See our recommended vocabulary app
Whichever tool you use, the principle behind this list holds: learn the most frequent words first, in context, and review them before they fade. The first 100 are the words you will use every single day.
Words are drawn from the HSK 3.0 (2021) Level 1 list in our shipped word data (complete-hsk-vocabulary, cross-checked against elkmovie/hsk30). Membership of every listed word in Level 1 was verified against that dataset on 2026-07-24; 你好 is the standard greeting formed from Level 1 words 你 and 好. Pinyin and glosses are given in their standard beginner reading, which can differ from the first CC-CEDICT sense in the raw dataset. Level 1 holds 506 words in total; the ~50% conversational-coverage figure is computed from coverage.json against the OpenSubtitles 2018 zh_cn frequency list. Frequency-order and in-context recommendations reflect established second-language vocabulary research and are described as method, not official HSK guidance.