HSK 3.0

HSK 5 Syllabus: Topics, Tasks, and Grammar

The final HSK 3.0 syllabus sets 72 leaf topics, 28 task areas, 68 grammar rows, and 3,600 cumulative vocabulary entries for HSK 5. HSK 4 has 77 leaf topics, but the lower HSK 5 total does not mean an easier level: narrower labels are consolidated into broader, more abstract areas such as community management, work experience, business management, research, and economic development.

AnthonyAnthonyUpdated
CEFR orientation: C13,600 official cumulative entries68 grammar patterns
72
topics
28
tasks
3,600
entries

The official syllabus counts 3,600 cumulative entries through HSK 5. HSKStory consolidates repeated written forms in its normalized vocabulary index, which contains 3,557 distinct items.

Level angle

From situations to systems

HSK 5 tasks ask you to handle insurance, interpret safety and property rules, discuss job loss and retirement, explain entrepreneurship, HR, and pay, and report research findings or economic trends. Written output advances from HSK 4 paragraphs to short compositions that connect evidence, experience, and a conclusion.

Topics

These are the official topic areas for HSK 5, shown with English labels first and the original Chinese syllabus labels preserved.

Daily life

日常生活

Everyday affairs日常事务
  • Service handling/业务办理
  • Asking for help with difficulties/困难求助
Food and drink饮食
  • Eating out and meals/就餐
  • Dining experience/餐饮体验
Transportation and travel交通出行
  • Transportation and logistics/交通运输
  • Travel experience/出行体验
Shopping购物
  • Choosing goods/商品选购
  • Consumer activities/消费活动
Medical and health医疗健康
  • Medical visits/就医
  • Mental health/心理健康
  • Healthy living/健康生活
Leisure休闲
  • Leisure activities/休闲活动
  • Activity feelings, life reflections, personal insights/活动感受、生活随感、人生感悟等
Community社区
  • Living situation/居住情况
  • Community management/社区管理
  • Community life/社区生活
Family life家庭生活
  • Home life/居家生活
  • Family activities/家庭活动
  • Family issues/家庭问题

Education

教育情况

Study situation学习情况
  • Course situation/课程情况
  • Teaching situation/教学情况
  • Study experience/学习经历
  • Study reflections/学习心得
Campus life校园生活
  • Campus activities/校园活动
  • School situation/学校情况
Education issues教育问题
  • Family education/家庭教育
  • School, social, and vocational education/学校教育、社会教育、职业教育等

Work life

职场生活

Career and experience职业与经历
  • Work content/工作内容
  • Work experience/工作经历
Operations and management经营与管理
  • Team cooperation/团队合作
  • Personnel management/人员管理
  • Enterprise development/企业发展

Nature and environment

自然与环境

Nature自然
  • Natural resources/自然资源
  • Terrain and landforms/地形地貌
  • Natural phenomena and laws/自然现象、自然规律
  • Animals and plants/动植物
Environment环境
  • Ecological balance/生态平衡
  • Cities and villages/城市与乡村
  • Environmental protection/环境保护

Science and technology

科学技术

Technology development科技发展
  • Product introduction and application/产品介绍与应用
Scientific knowledge科学知识
  • Popular science knowledge/科普知识
  • Research results/科研成果

Contemporary society

当代社会

Overview概况
  • Administrative divisions/行政区划
  • Population situation/人口情况
  • Features of the times/时代特征
Economic phenomena经济现象
  • Import and export trade/进出口贸易
  • Business activities/商业活动
  • Economic development/经济发展
Social phenomena社会现象
  • People's livelihood development/民生发展
  • Emerging things/新兴事物
  • Social ideas/社会观念
  • Infrastructure/基础设施
Literature and arts文艺
  • Artistic forms/文艺形式
  • Arts knowledge/文艺常识
  • Creators and their works/创作者及其作品
  • Arts activities/文艺活动
Sports体育
  • Sports events/运动项目
  • Sports events and tournaments/体育赛事
  • Sports figures and stories/体育名人、体育故事
Chinese-foreign exchange中外交流
  • Exchange stories, friendly visits, international cooperation/交往故事、友好访问、国际合作等

Culture and tradition

文化与传统

Language and writing语言文字
  • Sayings, idioms, and famous quotations/俗语、成语、名言名句等
  • Language phenomena/语言现象
Folk customs and traditions民俗传统
  • Local foods and regional differences/地方饮食及差异等
  • Traditional festivals and customs/传统节日与习俗
  • Folk legends/民间传说
  • Ancient life/古代生活
Cultural landscapes人文景观
  • Historic sites, traditional dwellings, and architecture/名胜古迹、传统民居、建筑等
Traditional thought and arts传统思想与艺术
  • Philosophical thought/哲学思想
  • Traditional arts/传统艺术
History历史
  • Historical figures and events/历史人物、历史事件
Ancient science and technology古代科技
  • Ancient technological achievements/古代科技成就
  • Ancient scientific ideas and scientists' stories/古人科学观念、古代科学家事迹

Tasks

Tasks describe what the syllabus expects learners to do with the language, beyond recognizing words in isolation.

Official HSK 5 tasks

HSK（五级）任务

Communicate and handle everyday affairs

交流、处理日常事务

Covers everyday errands, lost items, leave requests, borrowing, returning, and service procedures.

Discuss dining experiences

谈论餐饮体验

Focuses on restaurant styles, dietary restrictions, recommendations, taste preferences, cooking methods, and dining settings.

Discuss transportation and travel

谈论交通出行

Focuses on transport choices, travel plans, travel experiences, road rules, routes, and trip writing.

Discuss shopping experiences

谈论购物体验

Covers brands, use, quality, after-sales service, shopping channels, promotions, and purchase experiences.

Discuss medical and health topics

谈论医疗健康

Focuses on injuries, diagnosis, emergency care, mental health, prevention, and health concepts.

Discuss leisure activities

谈论休闲活动

Covers outdoor activities, handicrafts, photography, exhibitions, travel, life reflections, and personal insights.

Communicate and discuss community life

沟通、交流社区生活情况

Focuses on housing, facilities, property management, safety, services, volunteers, and neighborhood communication.

Discuss family life

交流家庭生活

Covers home goods, appliances, family events, parenting, family values, responsibilities, and family issues.

Report study situation

报告学习情况

Focuses on curriculum, classroom expectations, materials, projects, speeches, experiments, papers, certificates, and study goals.

Share campus life experiences

分享校园生活的经历、经验

Covers student clubs, campus services, training, lectures, accommodation, departments, and campus-event writing.

Discuss education situations and issues

谈论教育情况和问题

Focuses on family, school, social, and vocational education, including education concepts and problems.

Discuss work content and experience

交流工作内容和工作经历

Covers projects, business plans, progress, internships, resignation, unemployment, retirement, and work reports.

Discuss operations and management

谈论经营与管理情况

Focuses on entrepreneurship, teamwork, hiring, training, personnel structure, compensation, and management experience.

Discuss nature

谈论自然情况

Covers climate, seasons, animals, plants, scenery, weather, and short descriptions of nature.

Discuss environmental issues

谈论环境问题

Covers urban and rural environments, pollution, environmental governance, human impact, and public opinions.

Introduce technology products

介绍科技产品

Focuses on robots, livestreaming technology, smart products, product development, and practical applications.

Introduce scientific knowledge

介绍科学知识

Covers popular science, research results, scientific experiments, conclusions, and science communication.

Introduce China overview topics

介绍中国概况

Focuses on administrative divisions, population, education levels, social identity, and features of contemporary China.

Discuss economic phenomena

谈论经济现象

Covers products, exhibitions, cooperation, promotion, industry trends, enterprise development, and economic hot topics.

Discuss social phenomena

谈论社会现象

Focuses on livelihoods, employment, population, social change, values, infrastructure, and public facilities.

Discuss artistic forms, knowledge, and works

谈论文艺形式、常识、作品

Covers literature, photography, drama, film, games, creators, arts knowledge, and cultural events.

Discuss sports events and tournaments

谈论体育项目及赛事

Focuses on sport features, competition settings, judging, ceremonies, athletes, achievements, and sports stories.

Discuss international exchange events

谈论国际交往事件

Covers friendly visits, international cooperation, exchange stories, and reports about international friendship.

Introduce Chinese language and writing

介绍中国语言文字

Focuses on sayings, idioms, quotations, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, characters, and language phenomena.

Introduce ancient Chinese folk customs and cultural landscapes

介绍中国古代民俗传统、人文景观

Covers local foods, regional differences, festivals, legends, ancient life, and historic sites.

Introduce Chinese traditional thought and arts

介绍中国传统思想与艺术

Focuses on traditional thought, famous sayings, calligraphy, painting, music, folk arts, martial arts, and crafts.

Introduce Chinese history

介绍中国历史

Covers historical figures, events, background, causes, results, dynasties, and cultural landmarks.

Introduce ancient Chinese science and technology

介绍中国古代科技

Focuses on traditional medicine, agriculture, inventions, scientific ideas, and ancient scientists' influence.

Grammar

Grammar categories use native expansion controls so the full pattern list remains readable on phone screens.

Morphemes语素

  • 一头

    一头 morpheme

    他一头扎进水里。

    He plunged headfirst into the water.

Word classes词类

  • 彼此、如此、本

    pronouns

    本公司希望双方彼此尊重，如此才能长期合作。

    Our company hopes both sides respect each other; only this way can we cooperate long term.

  • 册、朵、届、颗、匹、行、架、群、支、根、批、束、副、集、周

    noun measure words

    桌上放着一束花和一册旧书。

    There is a bouquet of flowers and an old volume on the table.

  • 眼

    action measure word

    我看了他一眼，他没说话。

    I glanced at him once, and he said nothing.

  • 过于、相当、较¹、可²、格外、极其

    degree adverbs

    这个要求过于严格，大家都觉得相当困难。

    This requirement is too strict, and everyone finds it quite difficult.

  • 时刻、曾经、立刻、连忙、始终、早已、即将、急忙、渐渐、尽快、早晚

    time adverbs

    会议即将开始，请尽快入场。

    The meeting is about to begin; please enter as soon as possible.

  • 老是、通常、时常

    frequency adverbs

    他老是迟到，通常让大家等很久。

    He is always late and usually makes everyone wait a long time.

  • 尽量、亲自

    manner adverbs

    这份报告请你尽量亲自完成。

    Please try to complete this report yourself.

  • 便、一旦

    connective adverbs

    你一旦决定，便不要后悔。

    Once you decide, do not regret it.

  • 似乎、仿佛

    modal adverbs

    他似乎明白了，仿佛一下子轻松了许多。

    He seemed to understand, as if he had suddenly relaxed a lot.

  • 毕竟、居然、反正、根本、果然、简直、绝对、的确、反而、白、刚好、可³

    tone and stance adverbs

    这次我白忙了，反而把问题弄复杂了。

    This time I worked for nothing and instead made the problem more complicated.

  • 自从

    since

    自从去年毕业，我就没回过学校。

    Since graduating last year, I haven't returned to school.

  • 朝、沿（着）

    direction prepositions

    大家朝山顶走，沿着小路慢慢爬。

    Everyone walked toward the mountaintop, slowly climbing along the path.

  • 替、同¹、较²

    object and comparison prepositions

    同他相比，我的经验较少。

    Compared with him, I have less experience.

  • 凭、据、依据

    basis prepositions

    据天气预报，明天会下雨。

    According to the weather forecast, it will rain tomorrow.

  • 以及、同²

    phrase conjunctions

    这个项目需要老师以及学生共同参加。

    This project requires teachers as well as students to participate together.

  • 从而、可见、假如、总之

    clause conjunctions

    他坚持练习，从而提高了口语。

    He kept practicing and thereby improved his spoken Chinese.

  • 似的

    similative particle

    他跑得像飞似的。

    He ran as if he were flying.

Phrases短语

  • A来A去

    A back and forth

    他想来想去，还是决定不去。

    He thought it over again and again, and still decided not to go.

  • A着A着

    while A-ing

    他走着走着，突然停下了。

    As he was walking along, he suddenly stopped.

  • 没A没B

    without A or B

    这孩子没大没小，真没礼貌。

    This child shows no respect for age or status and is really impolite.

  • 说A就A

    say A and immediately A

    他说走就走，非常果断。

    He said he would leave and immediately left; he is very decisive.

  • 不得了

    extremely

    今天热得不得了。

    Today is extremely hot.

  • 用不着

    no need

    这点小事，用不着担心。

    For such a small matter, there is no need to worry.

  • 从……来看

    from ... perspective

    从经济来看，这个计划很合理。

    From an economic perspective, this plan is very reasonable.

  • A的A，B的B

    some A, some B

  • （自）……以来

    since ...

  • 由……组成

    made up of ...

  • X也不是，Y也不是

    neither X nor Y

  • X也X不得，Y也Y不得

    cannot X or Y

  • X是它，Y也是它

    it is both X and Y

  • X着也是X着

    X anyway

  • 不管怎样说

    in any case

  • 真有你/他/她的

    quite something

  • X什么X

    what X?

  • 什么X不X（的）

    whether X or not

  • 不X白不X

    no loss in X-ing

  • X来X去，都是/就是……

    after all X, still ...

  • 动词+什么（就）是什么

    whatever the verb is

Sentence components句子成分

  • 多项状语

    multiple adverbials

  • 动词+得/不得

    can or cannot do

  • 形容词/心理动词+得+不得了

    extreme degree with de

  • 趋向补语的引申用法：表示状态意义：动词/形容词+下来/下去/起来/过来/过去

    direction complement as state

  • (1) 动词/形容词+得+动词短语

    de with verb phrase

  • (2) 动词/形容词+得+主谓短语

    de with subject-predicate phrase

  • (3) 动词/形容词+得+固定短语

    de with fixed phrase

Sentence types句子的类型

  • (1) 表示存在、具有：主语+有+着+宾语

    existence with 有着

  • (2) 表示附着：主语+动词+有+宾语

    attachment with 有

  • (1) 主语+把+宾语+一+动词

    ba with yi plus verb

  • (2) 主语+把+宾语1+动词+宾语2

    ba with second object

  • 前后两个动词性词语具有因果、转折、条件关系

    linked verbs with logical relation

  • A+形容词+B+数量补语

    adjective comparison with quantity

  • 主语+被/叫/让+宾语+给+动词+其他成分

    passive with gei

  • ……，便……

    ... then ...

  • 或是……，或是……

    either ... or ...

  • 一旦……，就……

    once ... then ...

  • 假如……，（就）……

    if ... then ...

  • 万一……，（就）……

    if by any chance ...

  • ……，要不然/不然……

    ... otherwise ...

  • ……，因而……

    ... therefore ...

  • ……，可见……

    ... it can be seen ...

  • 哪怕……，也……

    even if ... still ...

  • 不但不/不但没有……，反而……

    not only not ... but instead ...

  • 不是……，还/还是……

    not ... but still ...

  • ……，为的是……

    ... for the purpose of ...

  • 没有……就没有……

    without ... no ...

  • 不……不……

    not ... not ...

  • 再……也……

    no matter how ... still ...

Study Tips

  • Study the consolidation, not just the count. HSK 5 has 72 leaf topics, five fewer than HSK 4, because narrower labels are combined into broader categories such as work experience, business management, community life, and economic development. Build examples around the situations inside each category.
  • Draft the short composition the task asks for. Write a connected short composition about one concrete brief: an insurance claim, a safety or property rule, job loss or retirement, or an entrepreneurship and hiring decision. Include what happened, the relevant constraint, and your view.
  • Move from information to a conclusion. Summarize a research finding or economic trend, then use patterns such as 从……来看, 可见, 一旦……就……, and 哪怕……也…… to show evidence, conditions, and conclusions.

Related syllabus resources

Read HSK 5 topics in context

Graded stories turn this syllabus scope into vocabulary, grammar, and tasks inside a narrative instead of isolated lists.

Browse HSK 5 stories

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this HSK 5 syllabus guide include?

It covers the 72 leaf topics, 28 task areas, and 68 grammar rows in the current HSK 3.0 examination syllabus. The Chinese labels come from the official source, with editorial English translations added here.

Why does this page show both 3,600 and 3,557?

The official syllabus contains 3,600 cumulative entries through HSK 5. HSKStory consolidates repeated written forms in its normalized vocabulary index, which contains 3,557 distinct items.

Do regular 2026 HSK 5 exams use HSK 3.0?

CTI has announced the worldwide HSK 3.0 exam launch for 13 December 2026. Check the version and arrangements named in your booking.

Why does HSK 5 have fewer leaf topics than HSK 4?

The drop from 77 to 72 reflects consolidation and abstraction, not an easier level. HSK 5 combines narrower labels into broader areas, then asks learners to write short compositions about subjects such as mental health, customs clearance and insurance, safety and property rules, job loss and retirement, HR and pay, research findings, and economic trends.