HSK 1 is the entry point for Chinese language learners. With just 300 words, you can already follow simple narratives about daily life — greetings, family, food, and basic routines. Our HSK 1 stories use only these core words so every sentence is within reach.
Short stories about everyday situations: ordering food, meeting people, talking about the weather. Characters speak in simple sentences with common verbs like 去、吃、看、想. Each story builds your reading confidence without overwhelming you.
Common Questions
How long does it take to reach HSK 1?▼
Most learners reach HSK 1 in 2-4 months of consistent study (about 150-200 hours). Reading graded stories accelerates this because you encounter words in memorable contexts rather than isolated flashcard drills.
Can I really read stories with only 300 words?▼
Yes. Our HSK 1 stories are carefully written to use only the 300 words in the official HSK 1 vocabulary list. The stories are short (3-5 chapters, ~200 characters each) but tell complete narratives with a beginning, middle, and end.
Should I learn all 300 words before reading HSK 1 stories?▼
No — reading is how you learn them. Start a story even if you only know 50-100 words. Use the pinyin toggle to help with pronunciation, and tap any word to see its meaning. You’ll naturally pick up new vocabulary through context.
一yīone; single; a (article)一下yī xià(after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly一些yī xiēsome; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er一半yī bànhalf一点儿yī diǎn rerhua variant of 一點|一点[yi1 dian3]七qīseven; 7三sānthree; 3上shàng(bound form) up; upper; above上午shàng wǔmorning上学shàng xuéto go to school; to attend school上班shàng bānto go to work; to be on duty; to start work上课shàng kèto go to class; to attend class; to go to teach a class下xiàdown; downwards; below下午xià wǔafternoon; CL:個|个[ge4]; p.m.下班xià bānto finish work; to get off work; next service (train, bus etc)下课xià kèto finish class; to get out of class; (fig.) (esp. of a sports coach) to be dismissed下雨xià yǔto rain不bùno; not so; (bound form) not不客气bù kè qiyou're welcome; don't mention it; impolite不要bù yàodon't!; must not东西dōng xīeast and west两liǎngtwo; both; some个gè(classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier); (bound form) individual中午zhōng wǔnoon; midday; CL:個|个[ge4]中国Zhōng guóChina中学zhōng xuémiddle school中学生zhōng xué shēngmiddle-school student; high school student中文Zhōng wénChinese language九jiǔnine; 9也yěalso; too; as well书shūbook; letter; document书店shū diànbookstore; CL:家[jia1]买mǎito buy; to purchase了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)事shìmatter; thing; item二èrtwo; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid五wǔfive; 5些xiēclassifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several人rénperson; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]什么shén mewhat?; something; anything今天jīn tiāntoday; the present time; now今年jīn niánthis year他tā(third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his他们tā menthey; them们menplural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals件jiànitem; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc休息xiū xirest; to rest会huìcan; to have the skill; to know how to住zhùto live; to dwell; to stay你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2])你们nǐ menyou (plural)你好nǐ hǎohello; hi便宜biàn yíconvenient做zuòto make; to produce; to write做饭zuò fànto prepare a meal; to cook儿子ér zison元yuáncurrency unit (esp. Chinese yuan); (bound form) first; original先生xiān shengteacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.); husband八bāeight公司gōng sīcompany; firm; corporation; CL:家[jia1]六liùsix; 6再zàiagain; once more; re-再见zài jiàngoodbye写xiěto write冷lěngcold几jǐhow much; how many; several出租车chū zū chētaxi; (Tw) rental car分fēnto divide; to separate; to distribute分钟fēn zhōngminute到dàoto reach; to arrive; to leave for前qiánfront; forward; ahead包子bāo zibaozi; bao (steamed stuffed bun)医生yī shēngdoctor; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2]医院yī yuànhospital; CL:所[suo3],家[jia1],座[zuo4]十shíten; 10千qiānthousand午饭wǔ fànlunch; CL:份[fen4],頓|顿[dun4],次[ci4],餐[can1]半bànhalf; semi-; incomplete卖màito sell; to betray; to spare no effort去qùto go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last去年qù niánlast year口kǒumouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls只zhǐonly; merely; just叫jiàoto shout; to call; to order可以kě yǐcan; may; possible号hàoordinal number; day of a month; mark吃chīto eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc)同学tóng xuéto study at the same school; fellow student; classmate名字míng ziname (of a person or thing); CL:個|个[ge4]后hòuempress; queen; (archaic) monarch吗ma(question particle for "yes-no" questions)吧ba(modal particle indicating suggestion or surmise); ...right?; ...OK?听tīngto listen to; to hear; to heed听见tīng jiànto hear呢neparticle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ...?"); particle for inquiring about location ("Where is ...?"); particle signaling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words and allow the listener time to take them on board ("ok?", "are you with me?")和hé(joining two nouns) and; together with; with (Taiwan pr. [han4])哥哥gē geolder brother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]哪nǎhow; which哪个nǎ gewhich; who哪些nǎ xiēwhich ones?; who?; what?哪儿nǎ rwhere?; wherever; anywhere; somewhere; (used in rhetorical questions) how can ...?; how could ...?哪里nǎ lǐwhere?; somewhere; anywhere唱chàngto sing; to call loudly; to chant商店shāng diànstore; shop; CL:家[jia1]喂wèihey; to feed (an animal, baby, invalid etc)喜欢xǐ huanto like; to be fond of喝hēto drink四sìfour; 4回huíto circle; to go back; to turn around国guócountry; nation; state在zàito exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at坐zuòto sit; to take a seat; to take (a bus, airplane etc)块kuàilump; chunk; piece外wàioutside; in addition; foreign外边wài bianoutside; outer surface; abroad多duōmany; much; more多少duō shǎonumber; amount; somewhat大dàbig; large; great大学Dà xuéthe Great Learning, one of the Four Books 四書|四书[Si4 shu1] in Confucianism大学生dà xué shēnguniversity student; college student大家dà jiāeveryone; influential family; great expert天tiānday; sky; heaven天气tiān qìweather太tàihighest; greatest; too (much)女nǚfemale; woman; daughter女儿nǚ érdaughter女士nǚ shìlady; madam; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]女朋友nǚ péng yougirlfriend她tāshe她们tā menthey; them (females)好hǎogood; appropriate; proper好吃hǎo chītasty; delicious好听hǎo tīngpleasant to hear好玩儿hǎo wán rerhua variant of 好玩[hao3 wan2]好看hǎo kàngood-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good; in an embarrassing situation妈妈mā mamama; mommy; mother妹妹mèi meiyounger sister; young woman; CL:個|个[ge4]姐姐jiě jieolder sister; CL:個|个[ge4]字zìletter; symbol; character学xuéto learn; to study; to imitate学习xué xíto learn; to study学校xué xiàoschool; CL:所[suo3]学生xué shengstudent; schoolchild孩子hái zichild它tāit它们tā menthey; them家jiāhome; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc)家人jiā rénfamily member; (old) servant对duìright; correct; towards对不起duì bu qǐI'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint小xiǎosmall; tiny; few小学xiǎo xuéelementary school; primary school小学生xiǎo xué shēngprimary school student; schoolchild; CL:個|个[ge4],名[ming2]小时xiǎo shíhour; CL:個|个[ge4]小朋友xiǎo péng yǒuchild; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to refer to sb's own child)少shǎofew; less; to lack岁suìyears old工作gōng zuòto work; (of a machine) to operate; job年niányear; CL:個|个[ge4]店diàninn; old-style hotel (CL:家[jia1]); (bound form) shop开kāito open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on开车kāi chēto drive a car (or train etc); (slang) to post sexual content online; to make a sexual joke弟弟dì diyounger brother; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]很hěnvery; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)忙mángbusy; hurriedly; to hurry怎么zěn mehow?; what?; why?怎么样zěn me yànghow?; how about?; how was it?您nínyou (courteous, as opposed to informal 你[ni3])想xiǎngto think (about); to think of; to devise我wǒI; me; my我们wǒ menwe; us; ourselves; our房间fáng jiānroom; CL:間|间[jian1]手机shǒu jīcell phone; mobile phone; CL:部[bu4],臺|台[tai2]打电话dǎ diàn huàto make a telephone call找zhǎoto try to find; to look for; to call on sb新xīnnew; newly; meso- (chemistry)日rìsun; day; date, day of the month早zǎoearly; morning; Good morning!早上zǎo shangearly morning; CL:個|个[ge4]早饭zǎo fànbreakfast; CL:份[fen4],頓|顿[dun4],次[ci4],餐[can1]时候shí houtime; length of time; moment时间shí jiān(concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time明天míng tiāntomorrow明年míng niánnext year星期xīng qīweek; CL:個|个[ge4]; day of the week星期天Xīng qī tiānSunday星期日Xīng qī rìSunday昨天zuó tiānyesterday是shìto be (followed by substantives only); correct; right晚wǎnevening; night; late晚上wǎn shangevening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]晚饭wǎn fànevening meal; dinner; supper月yuèmoon; month; monthly有yǒuto have; there is; (bound form) having有点儿yǒu diǎn rslightly; a little; somewhat有些yǒu xiēsome; somewhat; rather; a bit有的yǒu de(there are) some (who are...); some (exist)朋友péng youfriend; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]本běn(bound form) root; stem; (bound form) origin来láito come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5])
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