New HSK 3.0 Vocabulary by Level: 2026 Word Counts

The new HSK syllabus lists 11,000 words. HSK 1 has 300 words, and each level after that adds 200 (HSK 2), 500 (HSK 3), 1,000 (HSK 4), 1,600 (HSK 5) and 1,800 (HSK 6). HSK 7–9 adds 5,600 more. The syllabus was published in November 2025 by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and took effect in July 2026.

• The big jumps are at HSK 4, 5 and 6. HSK 4 alone adds as many words as HSK 1 to 3 together.
• Check which version your list uses. The 2021 standard has 11,092 words split differently, and the older HSK 2.0 lists stop at 5,000 words for HSK 6. Many apps and word lists online still follow one of these.
• Tomaru's HSK lists follow the 2026 syllabus, level by level.

Written by the Tomaru team, the people who build the Tomaru vocabulary app. Source for Tomaru figures: Tomaru anonymized learning data (2026).

New HSK vocabulary in one table

What the 2026 HSK syllabus says

**The official document is the *HSK Syllabus* (中文水平考试 HSK 考试大纲), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (中外语言交流合作中心).** Its cover says it was published in November 2025 and takes effect in July 2026.

It has five parts for each level: tasks, topics, vocabulary, Chinese characters and grammar. The vocabulary part gives every word with its level, pinyin and part of speech.

The levels are 1 to 6, plus one shared syllabus for levels 7–9. Levels 1–3 are elementary, 4–6 intermediate and 7–9 advanced.

The vocabulary is cumulative. To pass HSK 4, you are expected to know the 2,000 words of HSK 1 to 4, not only the 1,000 words added at HSK 4.

HSK 3.0 vs 2021 vs HSK 2.0: which list are you studying?

"HSK 3.0" and "new HSK" can mean different lists online. Here are the cumulative word counts in each version:

How to tell which version a list uses:

• HSK 1 has 150 words → HSK 2.0 (2009).
• HSK 1 has 500 words, or the total is 11,092 → the 2021 standard (*Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education*, GF 0025–2021).
• HSK 1 has 300 words and the total is 11,000 → the 2026 syllabus.

The 2026 syllabus is not just the 2021 list renamed. The early levels are smaller (HSK 1 is 300 words instead of 500), and words move between levels. If your list was made from the 2021 standard, some words will be at a different level in the 2026 syllabus.

Which test you take decides which list you need. The syllabus took effect in July 2026. Check the registration page for your test date to see which syllabus it uses.

What the words look like

HSK 1–2: 爸爸 (dad), 手机 (mobile phone), 地铁 (subway), 上网 (to go online), 奶茶 (milk tea), 饺子 (dumplings).

HSK 3: 阿姨 (aunt; older woman), 安静 (quiet), 搬家 (to move house), 信用卡 (credit card), 外卖 (food delivery), 高铁 (high-speed rail), 电子书 (e-book).

The 2026 lists include many words for everyday life today, like 外卖 and 高铁 at HSK 3. Learn each word with its tone and one example sentence.

How many new words a day for HSK?

Count back from your test date. This table assumes you study 6 days a week and keep the last 2 weeks for review only. It counts only the new words at that level.

If you skip a level, add both levels together. Going from HSK 3 straight to HSK 5 means 1,000 + 1,600 = 2,600 new words.

At 20 new words a day, HSK 4 takes about 50 study days and HSK 5 about 80.

How to remember HSK words

Learn through characters. Once you know 学, words like 学生, 学校 and 学习 are half-learned. When a new word shares a character with one you know, notice it.

Say the answer before you look. Look at the word, say the pinyin with tones and the meaning, then check. Recalling the answer works much better than rereading it.

Review the next day. Review a brand-new word the next day and about 6 in 10 stick. Wait a week and it's under half.

Then spread reviews out. A review of 317 experiments found that studying in separate sessions gave 47.3% on later tests, compared with 36.7% for the same study done at once (Cepeda et al., 2006).

Keep tones with the word. Listen to every new word. Fixing a wrong tone later is slower than learning it right.

For the research behind these steps, see how to stop forgetting vocabulary.

Studying HSK words in Tomaru

We wrote this article and we build Tomaru, so here is what we made. Tomaru has HSK lists for every level of the 2026 syllabus, from HSK 1–2 to HSK 7–9, each word with pinyin, an English meaning, its part of speech and example sentences. Set your test date, and Tomaru works out how many new words a day you need and about how many minutes that takes, then brings each word back on a schedule. Words studied that way are still remembered 8 to 9 times in 10 a week to a month later. The core vocabulary features are free forever, with no ads.

FAQ

How many words are in the new HSK 3.0?

The 2026 HSK syllabus lists 11,000 words: 5,400 for HSK 1 to 6 and 5,600 more for HSK 7–9.

How many words do I need for HSK 4 in the new syllabus?

2,000 words in total: the 1,000 words of HSK 1 to 3 plus 1,000 new words at HSK 4.

How many words do I need for HSK 5 and HSK 6?

HSK 5 is 3,600 words in total (1,600 new). HSK 6 is 5,400 words in total (1,800 new).

How many words are in HSK 7–9?

HSK 7–9 adds 5,600 words, for 11,000 in total. Levels 7, 8 and 9 share one vocabulary list.

What is the difference between HSK 3.0 and HSK 2.0?

HSK 2.0 (2009) has six levels and 5,000 words by HSK 6. The 2026 syllabus has nine levels and 11,000 words. HSK 1 has 300 words (150 in HSK 2.0, 500 in the 2021 standard), and the biggest jumps come from HSK 4 onward.

Is the 2021 HSK word list the same as the 2026 one?

No. The 2021 standard has 11,092 words with 500 at level 1. The 2026 syllabus has 11,000 words with 300 at HSK 1, and some words are at different levels.

When did the new HSK syllabus take effect?

The syllabus was published in November 2025 and took effect in July 2026. Check the registration page for your test date to confirm which syllabus it uses.

Can I use an old HSK word list?

It will still teach you useful Chinese, but the level boundaries are different. If your test uses the 2026 syllabus, a list made from the 2026 syllabus matches what each level expects.

References

• Center for Language Education and Cooperation (2025). *HSK Syllabus* (中文水平考试 HSK 考试大纲), published November 2025, effective July 2026. https://hsk.cn-bj.ufileos.com/3.0/%E6%96%B0%E7%89%88HSK%E8%80%83%E8%AF%95%E5%A4%A7%E7%BA%B21219.pdf
• Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China & State Language Commission (2021). *Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards for International Chinese Language Education* (GF 0025–2021).
• Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. *Psychological Bulletin, 132*(3), 354–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
• Tomaru anonymized learning data (2026).