HSK 3 vocabulary list with example sentences (300 new words)

HSK 3 adds 300 words on top of HSK 1 and HSK 2, bringing your cumulative vocabulary to 600. This is where Mandarin stops being memorized phrases and starts being real conversation — you can talk about how you feel, describe the weather, explain a minor illness, and survive a day at the office. Here's the list, grouped by theme, with example sentences you can actually reuse.

A quick note on standards: this list follows the older HSK 2.0 syllabus (six levels, 150 / 150 / 300 / 600 / 1,300 / 2,500 cumulative words), which is still what most textbooks, apps, and test centers use. In 2021, China's Center for Language Education and Cooperation released HSK 3.0, a nine-level standard with much larger targets — its Level 3 requires roughly 1,000 cumulative words, not 600. If your course or exam specifies HSK 3.0, confirm which word list your program actually tests before relying on this one.

What HSK 3 covers

• Emotions and reactions (worried, afraid, sad, satisfied, caring about something)
• Weather, seasons, and nature words
• Body parts and minor illness (fever, cold, aches)
• Travel basics (airport, passport, station, elevator)
• Office and study vocabulary (meetings, colleagues, review, grades)
• Degree words and connectors that make sentences sound natural (越...越, 一直, 极了)

If you haven't locked down HSK 1 or HSK 2 yet, start there — HSK 3 assumes you already know those 300 words and builds on them fast.

Sample from each cluster

Emotions and attitudes (45 words)

• 害怕 (hàipà, to be afraid): 我害怕黑。 I'm afraid of the dark.
• 担心 (dānxīn, to worry): 别担心,没问题。 Don't worry, it's not a problem.
• 着急 (zháojí, anxious): 你别着急,慢慢说。 Don't be anxious, take your time.
• 满意 (mǎnyì, satisfied): 我对这次考试很满意。 I'm satisfied with this exam.
• 相信 (xiāngxìn, to believe): 我相信你能做到。 I believe you can do it.

Degree words and connectors (35 words)

• 简单 (jiǎndān, simple): 这个问题很简单。 This question is simple.
• 越 (yuè, the more): 汉语越学越有意思。 The more you study Chinese, the more interesting it gets.
• 一直 (yìzhí, always/continuously): 我一直想学汉语。 I've always wanted to learn Chinese.
• 极 (jí, extremely): 这个电影好看极了。 This movie is extremely good.
• 打算 (dǎsuàn, to plan): 我打算去中国旅游。 I plan to travel to China.

Weather and nature (35 words)

• 天气 (tiānqì, weather): 今天天气怎么样? How's the weather today?
• 云 (yún, cloud): 天上有很多云。 There are a lot of clouds in the sky.
• 刮风 (guāfēng, to be windy): 外面刮风了。 It's windy outside.
• 树 (shù, tree): 门前有一棵树。 There's a tree in front of the door.
• 环境 (huánjìng, environment): 这里的环境很好。 The environment here is very good.

Health and the body (45 words)

• 疼 (téng, to hurt): 我头疼。 My head hurts.
• 发烧 (fāshāo, to have a fever): 孩子发烧了。 The child has a fever.
• 感冒 (gǎnmào, to catch a cold): 我感冒了,要吃药。 I've caught a cold, I need to take medicine.
• 生病 (shēngbìng, to get sick): 我生病了,不能上班。 I'm sick, I can't go to work.
• 饿 (è, hungry): 我很饿,想吃饭。 I'm hungry, I want to eat.

Travel and places (35 words)

• 护照 (hùzhào, passport): 出国要带护照。 You need to bring your passport to go abroad.
• 机场 (jīchǎng, airport): 我们在机场见面吧。 Let's meet at the airport.
• 电梯 (diàntī, elevator): 电梯坏了,我们走楼梯吧。 The elevator is broken, let's take the stairs.
• 站 (zhàn, station/stop): 下一站是哪儿? What's the next stop?
• 迟到 (chídào, to be late): 今天我上班迟到了。 I was late for work today.

Work, study, and communication (55 words)

• 会议 (huìyì, meeting): 明天有一个会议。 There's a meeting tomorrow.
• 同事 (tóngshì, colleague): 他是我的同事。 He is my colleague.
• 复习 (fùxí, to review): 考试前要好好复习。 You need to review well before the exam.
• 成绩 (chéngjì, grades/results): 他的成绩很好。 His grades are very good.
• 忘记 (wàngjì, to forget): 我忘记他的名字了。 I forgot his name.
• 解决 (jiějué, to solve): 这个问题已经解决了。 This problem has already been solved.

45-day plan

• 7 new/day × 45 ≈ 300 words
• All new HSK 3 cards + all due HSK 1/HSK 2 reviews
• One example sentence per card, read aloud on review
• Miss a day and FSRS just reschedules — you don't lose the streak, only a little time

Why example sentences matter more at HSK 3

HSK 1 and 2 are mostly nouns and simple verbs — easy to brute-force from a single-word translation. HSK 3 introduces words that are defined by how they're used, not by what they mean in isolation: 极 only makes sense as 好极了 (never 极好了), and 越...越 needs both halves of the sentence to click. A card that shows just "极 = extremely" teaches you a fact you can't use. A card with a full sentence, resurfaced right before you'd forget it, teaches you the pattern along with the word — which is also why the scheduling algorithm behind your reviews matters; see FSRS vs SM-2: what changed if you want the short version of why most spaced-repetition apps moved on from the old SM-2 scheduler.

Get the deck

Vô chi includes an HSK 3 deck with example sentences, reviewed with FSRS so cards come back right before you'd forget them. It's free to download for macOS and Windows, with the first 100 cards free to try — the full vocabulary library across all six HSK levels is part of the paid plan. Once HSK 3 feels solid, HSK 5 is next on the ramp, and it moves a lot faster. For more study strategies, browse Learning tips.