How many words are in HSK 1?

Under the new HSK 3.0 standard, Level 1 covers 506 words in our published 3.0 list. Under the older six-level HSK 2.0, HSK 1 covered 150 words. So the count more than tripled between the two versions. If you see 150 quoted, that is the old exam; the 3.0 Level 1 list is far larger. (Some summaries still cite an early 300-word target for 3.0 Level 1; the published word list is bigger.)

How many words do you need to pass HSK 4?

It depends on the version. In HSK 3.0, Level 4 certifies 3,181 cumulative words (972 new words on top of the 2,209-word beginner band). In the old HSK 2.0, HSK 4 required 1,200 words. Both are the intermediate entry point, but the 3.0 target is far higher.

How many words are in all of HSK 3.0?

The full HSK 3.0 standard reaches 10,969 cumulative words at the top, across the combined Levels 7 to 9. That is more than double the old HSK 2.0 ceiling of 5,000 words at HSK 6. Character recognition also climbs from roughly 246 characters at Level 1 to about 3,088 by the advanced band.

How Many Words Are in Each HSK Level? (2.0 and 3.0)

“How many words is HSK 1” sounds like it has one answer. It has two, because there are two live standards. This page gives you both, level by level, in tables you can plan around. If you only remember one thing: HSK 3.0 counts new words per level, and the cumulative column is what a given level actually certifies you know.

506: Words at HSK 3.0 Level 1 was 150 under HSK 2.0
2,209: Finishes the beginner band 3.0 Levels 1 to 3
10,969: Top of HSK 3.0 was 5,000 under HSK 2.0

HSK 3.0 (the nine-level standard)

HSK 3.0 groups its nine levels into three bands. Each level adds a set number of new words; the cumulative column is the running total, and it is the number that matters when someone asks “how many words does Level 5 need.”

Band	Level	New words	Cumulative words
Beginner	1	506	506
Beginner	2	750	1,256
Beginner	3	953	2,209
Intermediate	4	972	3,181
Intermediate	5	1,059	4,240
Intermediate	6	1,123	5,363
Advanced	7 to 9	5,606	10,969

Each level number links to its full word table, where the entries are listed in frequency order with tone-marked pinyin and English. If you would rather see all the levels side by side first, the vocabulary tables hub lays out the whole ladder.

Two things stand out. First, each beginner level is larger than the last (506, then 750, then 953), so the vocabulary load builds steadily rather than front-loading. Second, the intermediate band is where the volume bites: Levels 4 to 6 add about 3,150 new words between them, more than the entire beginner band, and they are more abstract than the everyday nouns and verbs that came before. That intermediate stretch is where most self-studiers stall.

HSK 2.0 (the old six-level standard)

Plenty of test centers and study materials still use the six-level exam, so here are its cumulative counts for comparison.

Level	Cumulative words
HSK 1	150
HSK 2	300
HSK 3	600
HSK 4	1,200
HSK 5	2,500
HSK 6	5,000

The two standards side by side

The clearest way to see the change is to line up the “finish lines” of each stage.

Milestone	HSK 2.0	HSK 3.0
First level	150 words	506 words
End of beginner	600 words (HSK 3)	2,209 words (Level 3)
Entry to intermediate	1,200 words (HSK 4)	3,181 words (Level 4)
Top of the exam	5,000 words (HSK 6)	10,969 words (Levels 7 to 9)

Turning a word count into a study plan

A number on a page is not a plan. What matters is how many new words per day the count implies for your deadline. Finishing the HSK 3.0 beginner band means learning 2,209 words: at 10 new words a day that is roughly seven to eight months of consistent review, and at 5 a day it is well over a year. The count sets the size of the job; spaced repetition is what keeps the earlier words from leaking out while you add new ones.

The honest next step is to stop guessing which level you are at and check. A short recognition test tells you where your current vocabulary actually lands on either ladder, so you drill the right band instead of restarting from Level 1. If the level structure itself is still fuzzy, HSK levels explained walks through the nine levels and three bands, and which HSK level am I covers why a word count alone cannot place you.

HSK 3.0 word counts here are computed from our shipped 3.0 word list (see the data note; sourced from the public complete-hsk-vocabulary aggregate, cross-checked against the 2021 Ministry of Education outline via elkmovie/hsk30). Per-level new words: 506 / 750 / 953 / 972 / 1,059 / 1,123 / 5,606. Cumulative: 506 / 1,256 / 2,209 / 3,181 / 4,240 / 5,363 / 10,969. Some popular summaries quote rounded early syllabus targets (a 1,000-word beginner band, 11,000 at the top); those were provisional and run below the published word list. HSK 2.0 cumulative: 150 / 300 / 600 / 1,200 / 2,500 / 5,000. Structure, speaking-from-Level-3, and rollout status per Wikipedia, “Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi” (reviewed 2026-07-20); Chinese Testing International (Hanban) 2021 nine-level standard. Character recognition figures (246 to 3,088) per the 2021 standard summary.