In our previous post, we took a close look at the new HSK 1 vocabulary list and analyzed the new words. In this post, we continue analyzing the new HSK and look at the new HSK2 Vocabulary word list for Level 2 in 2021.
For a free HSK2 PDF download, scroll down to the bottom👇
New HSK 2 Word List Infographic
New HSK 2 Word List: Vocabulary Analysis
The new HSK2 has 772 words.
The old HSK2 only had 150 words.
Big change: out of those 150 words, only 46 old HSK2 words appear in the new HSK! The remaining 724 words are totally new — coming from old HSK3, 4, 5, 6, or appearing for the first time ever.
| NEW HSK WORDS | OLD HSK WORDS | |
| TOTAL | 772 | 150 |
| COMING FROM THE OLD HSK | 46 | |
| COMPLETELY NEW | 724 |
HSK2 Word List: What’s New?
We’ve tried to find patterns in the new HSK2 list and discovered that it has a lot of essential words that can help build the language base. Such words include conjunctions (“for example”, “or”, “but”, “not only”), auxiliary verbs (“must”, “might”), as well as other handy abstract nouns (“result”, “advantage”, “purpose”, reason”) and colloquial expressions (“most of”, “almost”) that can help you express your ideas & connect sentences.
Here are some examples:
| CONJUNCTIONS IN THE NEW HSK 2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 比如 | bǐrú | for example | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 比如说 | bǐrú shuō | for example | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 例如 | lìrú | for instance | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 但是 | dànshì | but | (conjunction) | |
| 但 | dàn | but | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 或者 | huòzhě | or | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 不过 | bùguò | but; however | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 不但 | bùdàn | not only | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 然后 | ránhòu | and then… | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 接下来 | jiēxiàlái | next; following | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 如果 | rúguǒ | if | (conjunction) | NEW |
| 的话 | dehuà | if | (conjunction) | NEW |
| AUXILIARY VERBS / POSSIBILITY IN THE NEW HSK2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 可能 |
kěnéng |
perhaps; maybe; possibility |
(auxiliary verb; noun) | |
|
也许 |
yěxǔ |
perhaps |
(adverb) | NEW |
|
一定 |
yīdìng |
certainly; for sure |
(adverb) | NEW |
|
不一定 |
bùyīdìng |
not certainly; not for sure |
(adverb) | NEW |
|
应该 |
yīnggāi |
should; must |
(auxiliary verb) | NEW |
| 必须 |
bìxū |
to have to; must |
(auxiliary verb) | NEW |
| USEFUL ABSTRACT NOUNS IN THE NEW HSK2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 结果 | jiéguǒ |
result; outcome |
(noun) | NEW |
|
目的 |
mùdì |
goal; purpose |
(noun) | NEW |
|
原因 |
yuányīn |
reason; cause |
(noun) | NEW |
|
机会 |
jīhuì |
chance; opportunity |
(noun) | NEW |
|
办法 |
bànfǎ |
way; method |
(noun) | NEW |
| 好处 |
hǎochù |
advantage(s) |
(noun) | NEW |
| 坏处 |
huàichu |
disadvantage(s) |
(noun) | NEW |
| ADVERBS OF DEGREE IN THE NEW HSK2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 不太 | bùtài | not very; not too | (adverb) | NEW |
| 不够 | bùgòu | not enough; insufficient | (adverb; adj) | NEW |
| 够 | gòu | enough; sufficient | (adverb; adj) | NEW |
| 特别 | tèbié | special; especially; particularly | (adverb; adj) | NEW |
| 差不多 | chàbuduō | almost | (adverb; adj) | NEW |
| 大部分 | dàbùfen | (for the) most part; the majority (of) | (colloquial expression) | NEW |
| 完全 | wánquán | completely; totally; entirely | (adverb) | NEW |
Example: New HSK 2 Vocabulary — Colors
More colors have been added to the new HSK2. The old HSK had three: “white” (白 bái), “black” (黑 hēi) and “red” (红 hóng), all made of just one character, without the word “color” (色 sè) added to them. In the new HSK2, the colors appear in the new format with 色 (sè), and 3 more colors have been added — “blue”, “yellow” and “green”:
| COLORS IN THE NEW HSK2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 白色 |
báisè |
white (color) | (noun) | USED TO BE JUST 白 |
| 黑色 |
hēisè |
black (color) | (noun) | USED TO BE JUST 黑 |
|
红色 |
hóngsè |
red (color) | (verb) | USED TO BE JUST 红 |
|
黄色 |
huángsè |
yellow (color) | (adj) | NEW |
|
蓝色 |
lánsè |
blue (color) | (noun) | NEW |
|
绿色 |
lǜsè |
green (color) | (adj) | NEW |
|
颜色 |
yánsè |
color | (noun) | |
Example: New HSK 2 Vocabulary Related to Directions
Another topic is directions. The four cardinal directions — east, west, north & south — have been added to the new HSK, as well as their combinations:
| DIRECTIONS IN THE NEW HSK 2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
|
东方 |
dōngfāng |
east | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
西方 |
xīfāng |
west | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
北方 |
běifāng |
north | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
南方 |
nánfāng |
south | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
东北 |
dōngběi |
north-east | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
西北 |
xīběi |
north-west | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
东南 |
dōngnán |
south-east | (direction noun) | NEW |
|
西南 |
xīnán |
south-west | (direction noun) | NEW |
Example: New HSK 2 Study-Related Vocabulary
Besides, many words have been added to help foreign students in China find their way around their university or campus, talk about their classes and schedule, etc:
| STUDY-RELATED VOCABULARY IN THE NEW HSK2 | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
|
校园 |
xiàoyuán |
school; campus | (noun) | NEW |
|
校长 |
xiàozhǎng |
headmaster | (noun) | NEW |
|
班长 |
bānzhǎng |
(class) monitor | (noun) | NEW |
|
教师 |
jiàoshī |
teacher | (noun) | NEW |
|
教室 |
jiàoshì |
classroom | (noun) | NEW |
|
留学生 |
liúxuéshēng |
foreign exchange student | (noun) | NEW |
|
学期 |
xuéqī |
semester; term | (noun) | NEW |
|
假期 |
jiàqī |
holiday; break | (noun) | NEW |
|
笔记 |
bǐjì |
notes | (noun) | NEW |
|
作业 |
zuòyè |
homework | (noun) | NEW |
| 成绩 | chéngjì | results; marks; score | (noun) | NEW |
|
词典 |
cídiǎn |
dictionary | (noun) | NEW |
|
词语 |
cíyǔ |
phrase | (noun) | NEW |
|
句子 |
jùzi |
sentence | (noun) | NEW |
New HSK 2 Word List: PDF Download
Note: This list is an extremely valuable piece of content and we want to protect it. Other schools and websites have been copying our HSK lists and pretending they wrote/made them themselves. So we are asking for your email for security measures. Thanks for understanding!
Further Reading
New HSK 3: Word List PDF & Infographic 2021
In our previous posts, we've looked at the New HSK 1 and the New HSK 2. Let's continue exploring the new HSK and look at the new HSK3 Vocabulary Word List for Level 3 in 2021. For a free HSK3 PDF download, scroll down to the bottom👇 New HSK 3 Word List Infographic New...
Thank you! It is super useful. You made my day!!
Bù kèqi – you’re welcome Pepe! 🤓