The official final HSK 3.0 syllabus contains 11,000 numbered vocabulary entries across nine levels. After deduplication and written-form normalization, HSKStory's cleaned files contain 10,896 distinct searchable items. HSK 1 begins with 300 entries, while HSK 7-9 share the highest vocabulary band.
The official final examination syllabus was published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation in November 2025 and became effective in July 2026. You can also browse the official syllabus explorer.
Current exam status: The July 2026 date applies to the syllabus. CTI's 2026 exam notice says regular HSK 1-6 sessions continue to use HSK 2.0 until the formal HSK 3.0 start is announced separately.
Vocabulary is only one part of the official HSK 3.0 syllabus. It also defines topics, tasks, and grammar for each level. See the HSK 3.0 Syllabus Guide for the framework beyond word lists.
Official Entries vs. Cleaned Searchable Items
The official syllabus numbers vocabulary entries cumulatively. Repeated written forms account for most of the difference from HSKStory's cleaned totals; a few official forms are stored under normalized variants, such as 有点儿 under 有一点儿 and 有时 under 有时候. The level pages and PDFs show cleaned items introduced at that level: entries present in the current cleaned file but not the previous one.
| Level | Official cumulative entries | Cleaned distinct items | Cleaned items introduced here |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | 300 | 300 | 300 |
| HSK 2 | 500 | 496 | 197 |
| HSK 3 | 1,000 | 988 | 493 |
| HSK 4 | 2,000 | 1,978 | 990 |
| HSK 5 | 3,600 | 3,557 | 1,579 |
| HSK 6 | 5,400 | 5,334 | 1,777 |
| HSK 7-9 | 11,000 | 10,896 | 5,562 |
The cleaned HSK 2 and HSK 3 files are not perfect supersets of the preceding files: 有点儿 appears in the HSK 1 file but not HSK 2, and 有时 appears in HSK 2 but not HSK 3. That is why "introduced here" is a set comparison rather than simple subtraction, and those figures should not be added together as a second cumulative total.
Level-by-Level Breakdown
HSK 1: 300 Official Entries, 300 Cleaned Items
HSK 1 covers survival Chinese: greetings, numbers, family members, basic objects, and simple verbs. A learner at this level can introduce themselves, ask simple questions, and handle basic transactions.
Sample words: 你好 (hello), 谢谢 (thank you), 学校 (school), 飞机 (airplane), 饺子 (dumplings), 高兴 (happy), 面包 (bread), 鸡蛋 (egg), 非常 (very), 面条儿 (noodles)
These words appear naturally in stories like 生日饭店 (Birthday Dinner), where characters order food, greet each other, and navigate a restaurant.
Browse: HSK 1 stories | Search 300 HSK 1 items | Download the 300 HSK 1 items (PDF)
HSK 2: 500 Official Entries, 496 Cleaned Items (197 Introduced Here)
HSK 2 adds vocabulary for daily routines, transportation, weather, and simple opinions. Learners can describe their schedule, talk about hobbies, and handle slightly more complex conversations.
Sample words: 一起 (together), 丈夫 (husband), 学习 (study), 孩子 (child), 完 (finished), 对不起 (sorry), 小时 (hour), 颜色 (color), 饭馆 (restaurant), 高中 (high school)
At this level, you can read stories about daily life situations. 楼上的吉他 (The Guitar Upstairs) tells the story of neighbors who go from noise complaints to making music together, using vocabulary about home, time, and interpersonal communication.
Browse: HSK 2 stories | Search 197 items introduced at HSK 2 | Download 197 HSK 2 additions (PDF)
HSK 3: 1,000 Official Entries, 988 Cleaned Items (493 Introduced Here)
HSK 3 is a major step up. The vocabulary expands into work, travel, health, social relationships, and expressing opinions. It is where reading starts to move beyond simple daily routines into fuller scenes and motivations.
Sample words: 小区 (residential compound), 小心 (be careful), 小时候 (childhood), 封 (measure word for letters), 屋子 (room), 层 (floor/layer), 山 (mountain), 高铁 (high-speed rail), 鼓励 (encourage), 麻烦 (trouble)
Stories at this level tackle more complex scenarios. 找家的故事 (The Home Search) follows someone apartment hunting in a Chinese city, introducing vocabulary about real estate, neighborhoods, and the practical challenges of urban life.
Browse: HSK 3 stories | Search 493 items introduced at HSK 3 | Download 493 HSK 3 additions (PDF)
HSK 4: 2,000 Official Entries, 1,978 Cleaned Items (990 Introduced Here)
HSK 4 nearly doubles the vocabulary from HSK 3. At this level, you can discuss abstract topics, understand news articles on familiar subjects, and express complex opinions.
Sample words: 市场 (market), 师傅 (master/skilled worker), 希望 (hope), 帮忙 (help), 常见 (common), 帽子 (hat), 幅 (measure word for paintings), 干 (dry/do), 常用 (commonly used), 带 (bring/wear)
Reading at HSK 4 moves into richer storytelling. 外国人在中国 (A Foreigner in China) explores cultural misunderstandings with humor, while 美食小博客 (The Food Blog) follows an aspiring food critic navigating the world of online reviews.
Browse: HSK 4 stories | Search 990 items introduced at HSK 4 | Download 990 HSK 4 additions (PDF)
HSK 5: 3,600 Official Entries, 3,557 Cleaned Items (1,579 Introduced Here)
HSK 5 is the gateway to professional Chinese. The vocabulary covers formal writing, academic discussion, business, and nuanced emotional expression.
Sample words: 录取 (admit/enroll), 录音 (recording), 形势 (situation), 形容 (describe), 形成 (form/develop), 影响 (influence), 影片 (film), 彻底 (thorough), 彼此 (each other), 形象 (image/impression)
Stories become more sophisticated. 夜市烟火 (Night Market Sparks) tells of someone who loses their office job and starts a night market stall, weaving business vocabulary with personal growth themes. 深夜的翻译梦 (The Midnight Translation Dream) follows a tech startup pitch, using professional and entrepreneurial vocabulary.
Browse: HSK 5 stories | Search 1,579 items introduced at HSK 5 | Download 1,579 HSK 5 additions (PDF)
HSK 6: 5,400 Official Entries, 5,334 Cleaned Items (1,777 Introduced Here)
HSK 6 moves into academic and literary comprehension. The vocabulary includes formal written Chinese, literary expressions, scientific terminology, and specialized words across many fields.
Sample words: 本质 (essence), 本能 (instinct), 本领 (ability/skill), 朴素 (simple/plain), 机制 (mechanism), 机动车 (motor vehicle), 机器人 (robot), 机构 (institution), 本科 (undergraduate), 本身 (itself)
At this level, stories address weighty themes. 夜班急诊室 (Night Shift ER) puts you inside a hospital emergency room over one grueling night shift, using medical and emotional vocabulary. 残剑记 (The Sword That Waited) is a historical fiction about a swordsmith, blending classical vocabulary with artisan terminology.
Browse: HSK 6 stories | Search 1,777 items introduced at HSK 6 | Download 1,777 HSK 6 additions (PDF)
HSK 7-8-9: 11,000 Official Entries, 10,896 Cleaned Items (5,562 Introduced Here)
The three highest levels share a single vocabulary pool that adds 5,562 cleaned items on top of HSK 6. This is the largest single jump in the system and includes classical Chinese expressions (chengyu), technical terminology, literary vocabulary, and low-frequency words that appear in formal writing and speech.
Sample words: 一丝不苟 (scrupulously), 一举两得 (two birds with one stone), 齐心协力 (unite efforts), 权威 (authority), 权衡 (weigh pros and cons), 杂交 (hybridize), 权限 (access rights), 材质 (material quality), 龙头 (faucet/leading), 杂乱无章 (messy and disorganized)
The difference between levels 7, 8, and 9 is not vocabulary but proficiency depth:
- HSK 7: Comprehend complex extended texts
- HSK 8: Produce professional-quality Chinese
- HSK 9: Master all registers, from literary to technical
Stories at these levels are full-length narratives covering detective fiction, historical epic, science fiction, legal drama, and more. For details, see HSK 7-8-9: What the New Advanced Levels Mean.
Browse stories: HSK 7 | HSK 8 | HSK 9
Search the shared 5,562 advanced additions: HSK 7 vocabulary | HSK 8 vocabulary | HSK 9 vocabulary
Download the shared advanced additions: HSK 7 PDF | HSK 8 PDF | HSK 9 PDF
Official Source and HSKStory's Cleaned Lists
The vocabulary comes from the 2025 final 新版HSK考试大纲, not the earlier 2021 draft. The official PDF numbers 11,000 cumulative vocabulary entries. HSKStory deduplicates and normalizes written forms into 10,896 distinct items, then compares adjacent cleaned files to create the searchable level pages and PDFs above. Those introduced-at-level resources are study views of the official material, not replacements for the cumulative official syllabus.
Study Strategies by Level
Beginners (HSK 1-3): Frequency First
At the beginner levels, nearly every word you learn is high-frequency. Focus on recognition: can you understand the word when you see it in a sentence? Graded stories are ideal because they use each word multiple times across different contexts.
Recommended approach:
- Read 3-5 stories at your level
- Note words you recognize versus words you need to look up
- Re-read stories after a week to measure retention
- Move to the next level when you understand 90%+ of a story without pinyin
Intermediate (HSK 4-6): Context and Collocations
At intermediate levels, individual word meanings matter less than how words combine. 影响 means "influence," but you need to know 产生影响 (produce influence), 受到影响 (receive influence), and 影响力 (influential power). Stories teach these patterns naturally because they use words in complete sentences and realistic situations.
Recommended approach:
- Read stories and pay attention to word combinations, not isolated words
- Use the pinyin toggle: show pinyin for unfamiliar words, hide it for words you know
- Listen to audio while reading to build sound-meaning connections
- Read across different story genres to encounter vocabulary in varied contexts
Advanced (HSK 7-9): Breadth and Registers
At the advanced levels, the challenge is vocabulary breadth and register awareness. The same idea is expressed differently in a newspaper editorial, a novel, and a legal document. Stories at HSK 7-9 expose you to these different registers.
Recommended approach:
- Read widely across genres: mystery, historical fiction, science fiction
- Do not stop to look up every unfamiliar word. Build tolerance for ambiguity.
- Re-read demanding passages. HSK 9 stories reward multiple readings.
- Supplement with native Chinese media (newspapers, podcasts) to reinforce vocabulary in real-world contexts.
How Stories Use the Vocabulary
Editors develop, closely edit, and approve every story. Vocabulary checks flag words above the target level, and editors decide whether to revise or retain necessary terms. Mandarin audio is reviewed for pronunciation, pacing, and synchronization.
Next Steps
- Find your level. Take our free HSK level quiz to find out where you stand, or read HSK 3.0 vs HSK 2.0 for a mapping from old to new levels.
- Browse vocabulary at your target level. Use the vocabulary pages linked above to study the cleaned items introduced at that level.
- Start reading. Pick a story at your level and read the first chapter. If you understand 80-90% without pinyin, you are at the right level. If it is too easy, go up. If you understand less than 70%, go down one level.
- Build a study plan. See How to Prepare for the HSK 3.0 Exam for a structured approach with timelines.
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