As the new HSK standards were released in March 2021, we’ve spent this time analyzing the new HSK 1 vocabulary word list to provide you with a detailed analysis of the new HSK vocabulary – so you can know what’s coming, and begin preparing for the new exam.
In this post, we look at the New HSK 1 Vocabulary List for Level 1 in 2021 in detail.
For a PDF download, scroll down to the bottom👇
New HSK 1 Word List Infographic
New HSK 1 Word List: Vocabulary Analysis
The new HSK1 has 500 words.
The old HSK1 only had 150 words.
Good news: out of those 150 words, 138 still appear in the new HSK!
Bad news: there are 362 other new words coming in from old HSK2, 3, 4, as well as some completely new.
| NEW HSK WORDS | OLD HSK WORDS | |
| TOTAL | 500 | 150 |
| COMING FROM THE OLD HSK | 138 | |
| COMPLETELY NEW | 362 |
Example: New HSK 1 Verbs of Movement
Take, for example, Verbs of Movement.
The old HSK list used to have only 3 basic verbs – 去 (qù, “to go”) and 来 (lái, “to come”) and 回 (huí, “to return”), but the new HSK 1 list was extended to include new verbs such as 进 (jìn, “to enter”), 出 (chū, “to go out”), 到 (dào, “to reach”), 走 (zǒu, “to leave”) from the old HSK2, as well as all possible combinations of them:
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 去 | qù | to go | (verb) | |
| 来 | lái | to come | (verb) | |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to | (verb) | NEW |
| 来到 | láidào | to come to | (verb) | NEW |
| 出 | chū | to go out | (verb) | NEW |
| 出来 | chūlái | to come out | (verb) | NEW |
| 出去 | chūqù | to go out | (verb) | NEW |
| 回 | huí | to go back | (verb) | |
| 回到 | huídào | to go back to | (verb) | NEW |
| 回来 | huílái | to come back | (verb) | NEW |
| 回去 | huíqù | to go back | (verb) | NEW |
| 进 | jìn | to enter | (verb) | NEW |
| 进来 | jìnlái | to come in | (verb) | NEW |
| 进去 | jìnqù | to go in | (verb) | NEW |
| 走 | zǒu | to leave; to walk | (verb) |
NEW |
Example: New HSK 1 Food-Related Nouns
Another example is the topic of food. See how many new food-related words have been added to the new HSK1:
| FOOD | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 包子 | bāozi | steamed bun(s) | (noun) | NEW |
| 菜 | cài | dish | (noun) | |
| 吃 | chī | to eat | (verb) | |
| 饿 | è | hungry | (adj) | NEW |
| 饭 | fàn | rice | (noun) | NEW |
| 好吃 | hǎochī | good; delicious (of food) | (adj) | NEW |
| 鸡蛋 | jīdàn | egg(s) | (noun) | NEW |
| 面包 | miànbāo | bread | (noun) | NEW |
| 面条儿 | miàntiáor | noodles | (noun) | NEW |
| 米饭 | mǐfàn | (cooked) rice | (noun) | |
| 肉 | ròu | meat | (noun) | NEW |
| 水果 | shuǐguǒ | fruit | (noun) |
| MEALS | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 晚饭 | wǎnfàn | dinner | (noun) | NEW |
| 午饭 | wǔfàn | lunch | (noun) | NEW |
| 早饭 | zǎofàn | breakfast | (noun) | NEW |
Example: New HSK 1 Drinks-Related Nouns
The same goes for drinks. A lot of new drink-related words from other levels were added:
| DRINKS | ||||
| CHINESE | PINYIN | ENGLISH | PART OF SPEECH | NEW? |
| 杯子 | bēizi | cup; glass | (noun) | |
| 茶 | chá | tea | (noun) | |
| 喝 | hē | to drink | (verb) | |
| 渴 | kě | thirsty | (adj) | NEW |
| 奶 | nǎi | milk | (noun) | NEW |
| 牛奶 | niúnǎi | cow’s milk | (noun) | NEW |
| 水 | shuǐ | water | (noun) |
New HSK 1 Word List: PDF Download
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Further Reading
For more news about the new HSK, make sure to check these articles:
New HSK Levels Revealed 2021: All You Need to Know
New HSK 3-6 Changes: Written & Spoken Exams Combined (Update 2022)
To learn more about the new HSK levels and download free PDF word lists, read these posts:
New HSK 2: Word List PDF, Analysis & Infographics
New HSK 3: Word List PDF, Analysis & Infographics
For more information on the HSK, from the different levels, the benefits and the time it takes to complete, have a read here!
