Basic Chinese words: the first hundred, by topic

October 20, 2026 · 9 min read

These are the basic Chinese words you need first: about a hundred of them, grouped by topic, each with characters, pinyin, meaning and a native speaker recording. Almost all of them come from HSK 1, the first level of the official Chinese exam, so learning this page is also the first step towards it. Press any word to hear it.

One thing to know before you start: Chinese words are short. Most are one or two syllables, and each syllable is written with one character. The marks over the vowels are the tones: mā and mà are different words, so learn every word with its melody, not just its letters.

Greetings and polite words

• 你好nǐhǎohello, hi
• 谢谢xièxiethank you
• 不客气búkèqiyou're welcome
• 再见zàijiàngoodbye
• 对不起duìbuqǐsorry
• 没关系méiguānxiit's okay
• 请qǐngplease
• 是shìbe
• 不bùnot
• 好hǎogood, well
• 没有méiyǒunot have, there isn't

With 你好, 谢谢 and 再见 you can already open and close any conversation. 不 and 没有 are the two Chinese “no”s: 不 negates almost everything, 没有 negates “to have” and things that happened. More on the first phrases is in “How to say hello in Chinese”.

People and family

• 我wǒI, me
• 你nǐyou
• 他tāhe
• 她tāshe
• 我们wǒmenwe
• 你们nǐmenyou (plural)
• 他们tāmenthey
• 人rénperson
• 朋友péngyoufriend
• 老师lǎoshīteacher
• 学生xuéshengstudent
• 妈妈māmamom
• 爸爸bàbadad
• 孩子háizichild
• 儿子érzison
• 女儿nǚ’érdaughter
• 哥哥gēgeolder brother
• 姐姐jiějieolder sister

Chinese pronouns are simple: 他 “he” and 她 “she” sound exactly the same, tā, and only the writing differs. Add 们 and you get the plural: 我们 “we”, 他们 “they”. Note that Chinese has separate words for older and younger siblings; the rest of the family is in “Family members in Chinese”.

Numbers

• 一yīone
• 二èrtwo
• 三sānthree
• 四sìfour
• 五wǔfive
• 六liùsix
• 七qīseven
• 八bāeight
• 九jiǔnine
• 十shíten
• 百bǎihundred
• 两liǎngtwo (when counting)
• 零língzero

Chinese numbers are logical: 十一 is “ten-one”, 11; 二十 is “two-ten”, 20; 二十一 is 21. So with these thirteen words you can count to 999. 两 is the “two” you use before a measure word (两个人, “two people”). Hand signs, big numbers and 万 are in “Chinese numbers”.

Time and days

• 今天jīntiāntoday
• 明天míngtiāntomorrow
• 昨天zuótiānyesterday
• 现在xiànzàinow
• 年niányear
• 月yuèmonth
• 号hàodate (day of month)
• 星期xīngqīweek
• 点diǎno'clock
• 早上zǎoshangmorning
• 晚上wǎnshangevening
• 时候shíhoumoment, time

Time words come early in the sentence, before the verb: 我明天去 is “I tomorrow go”. Dates go from big to small, year, month, day: 2026年10月20号. How to tell the time and name the days of the week is in “Telling time in Chinese”.

The most useful verbs

• 有yǒuhave, there is
• 在zàibe at; in
• 去qùgo
• 来láicome
• 吃chīeat
• 喝hēdrink
• 看kànlook, watch
• 听tīnglisten
• 说shuōspeak, say
• 做zuòdo, make
• 买mǎibuy
• 想xiǎngwant; miss, think of
• 要yàowant, be going to
• 喜欢xǐhuanlike
• 爱àilove
• 学习xuéxístudy
• 工作gōngzuòwork; to work
• 睡觉shuìjiàosleep; go to bed
• 知道zhīdàoknow
• 会huìcan, know how to
• 能néngcan, be able
• 叫jiàobe called

Chinese verbs never change: 我去, 你去, 他去, 我们去 are “I go, you go, he goes, we go”, and the past or the future is shown with time words and small particles, not with endings. That is why a beginner can make real sentences so quickly: 我喜欢喝茶, “I like to drink tea”, is just the words in order.

Describing things

• 大dàbig
• 小xiǎosmall
• 多duōmany; how (much)
• 少shǎofew, little
• 很hěnvery
• 太tàitoo
• 热rèhot
• 冷lěngcold
• 贵guìexpensive
• 高兴gāoxìngglad
• 漂亮piàoliangbeautiful
• 忙mángbusy
• 累lèitired

An adjective works like a verb in Chinese, so there is no “is”: “I am busy” is 我很忙. 很 here is mostly glue, it doesn't really mean “very”, but a bare 我忙 sounds like a contrast (“I’m busy, unlike you”).

Food and drink

• 水shuǐwater
• 茶chátea
• 米饭mǐfàncooked rice
• 菜càidish; vegetables
• 饭fànmeal, food
• 苹果píngguǒapple
• 咖啡kāfēicoffee

饭 is both “cooked rice” and “a meal”: 吃饭, “eat rice”, simply means to eat, and it's how people invite you to lunch. Dishes, fruit and how to order are in “Food in Chinese”.

Places

• 中国ZhōngguóChina
• 家jiāhome, family
• 学校xuéxiàoschool
• 医院yīyuànhospital
• 商店shāngdiànstore
• 饭店fàndiànrestaurant
• 这儿zhèrhere
• 那儿nàrthere

Question words

• 什么shénmewhat, which
• 谁shéiwho
• 哪儿nǎrwhere
• 几jǐhow many (under ten)
• 多少duōshaohow many, how much
• 怎么zěnmehow
• 为什么wèishénmewhy
• 吗mayes/no question particle
• 呢ne"and you?"

A Chinese question keeps the word order of the answer: 你叫什么？ “you are called what?” — 我叫安娜, “I am called Anna”. The question word simply sits where the answer will be. To turn any statement into a yes/no question, add 吗 at the end: 你是老师吗？ “Are you a teacher?”

How to learn Chinese words so they stick

Learn words in short phrases, not alone: 喝茶 “drink tea” is easier to remember than 喝 and 茶 separately, and it gives you the tones in context. Say every word out loud, because the tone only sticks when your voice has made it. And review a little every day rather than a lot once a week: spaced repetition is what moves a word into long-term memory.