HSK Levels (汉语水平考试等级)
Every Chinese grammar article here carries an HSK band as well as a CEFR level. The bands come from 国际中文教育中文水平等级标准, the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education, which China's Ministry of Education issued in March 2021. The standard became the global default for the HSK exam on 1 July 2026, in place of the six bands the exam ran on before.
The standard grades a learner over nine levels in three stages (初等, 中等 and 高等, or elementary, intermediate and advanced). Each level sets a figure for the syllables, characters, words and grammar points you are expected to know, and says what you can do with them across five skills. Four of those skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Translating is the fifth, and it arrives at the advanced stage.
Seven bands cover the nine levels. The standard publishes one word list for levels 7, 8 and 9, and the exam runs a single HSK 7-9 paper that awards one of the three on how a candidate does. Those three share a syllabus, and this site lists them as one band.
An article's band is decided the same way as its CEFR level, by weighing how hard the grammar is, how much you need it, and how far into your studies you are likely to meet it. A piece of grammar that is easy but seldom used can therefore sit above a hard one you need from your first week.
The counts below are cumulative. HSK 3 covers everything at HSK 1 and HSK 2 along with 973 words of its own.
HSK 1 (汉语水平考试一级)
The first of the three elementary bands. 500 words and 300 characters, enough to introduce yourself and get through a simple everyday exchange.
- How to use 一点儿 (yī diǎnr) in Mandarin Chinese Grammar
- The 是…的 (shì…de) construction vs 了 (le) in Chinese grammar
- 吗 (ma) and 呢 (ne): the two Chinese question particles
See all HSK 1 articles HSK 1 vocabulary list (729 words)
HSK 2 (汉语水平考试二级)
The second elementary band. 1,272 words and 600 characters, enough to shop, order food and talk about your family and your day.
See all HSK 2 articles HSK 2 vocabulary list (1,108 words)
HSK 3 (汉语水平考试三级)
The last elementary band. 2,245 words and 900 characters, enough to handle everyday business and tell someone about it afterwards.
- How to use 长 (cháng) and 久 (jiǔ) correctly in Chinese grammar
- The difference between 去 (qù), 走 (zǒu) and 离开 (líkāi) in Chinese grammar
- Using 了 (le) and 过 (guò) in Chinese grammar
See all HSK 3 articles HSK 3 vocabulary list (1,478 words)
HSK 4 (汉语水平考试四级)
The first intermediate band. 3,245 words and 1,200 characters, enough to talk about your work in detail and read a straightforward article.
- How to use 学 (xué) and 学会 (xuéhuì) in Mandarin Chinese Grammar
- How to use 关于 (guānyú) and 对于 (duìyú) correctly in Chinese
- Understanding 把 (bǎ) in ten minutes
See all HSK 4 articles HSK 4 vocabulary list (1,520 words)
HSK 5 (汉语水平考试五级)
The second intermediate band. 4,316 words and 1,500 characters, enough to give an opinion on the news and follow material made for native speakers.
See all HSK 5 articles HSK 5 vocabulary list (1,654 words)
HSK 6 (汉语水平考试六级)
The last intermediate band. 5,456 words and 1,800 characters, enough to discuss business and comment on formal writing.
- The difference between 拿 (ná) and 带 (dài) in Chinese grammar
- Chinese direction complements: Basic verbal directions with 来 (lái) and 去 (qù)
- Three uses of 才 (cái) in Chinese grammar: only, just now / not until, emphasis
See all HSK 6 articles HSK 6 vocabulary list (1,748 words)
HSK 7-9 (汉语水平考试七至九级)
The advanced stage, and one word list for all three of its bands. 11,092 words and 3,000 characters, enough for academic and professional Chinese and for translation.
See all HSK 7-9 articles HSK 7-9 vocabulary list (8,872 words)