HSK 1: the complete guide — words, exam, textbook and preparation

October 10, 2026 · 8 min read

HSK 1 is the first, beginner level of the international Chinese proficiency exam. Under the new HSK 3.0 syllabus it covers 300 words and 246 characters; the old syllabus had 150 words. The HSK 1 exam itself is short: listening and reading, about 40 minutes, no writing and no speaking part. Below: what the level includes, how the exam works, which textbook people use and how long it takes to prepare.

How many words are in HSK 1, and how many characters

It depends on which syllabus you mean. There are two right now: the old one and HSK 3.0, the new one published in November 2025.

• 300 words under HSK 3.0. The old syllabus had 150, so the first level has doubled in size.
• 246 characters you need to recognize when reading.
• Handwriting asks for less than recognition: levels 1 and 2 share one list of 100 characters you should be able to write by hand.

There are more words than characters because words are built from the same characters over and over. Learn 学 xué — to study and you will meet it again in 学生 xuésheng — student, 大学 dàxué — university and 学校 xuéxiào — school. That is why the HSK 1 vocabulary sticks faster than the number 300 suggests.

If you come across an "HSK 1 word list — 150 words", it was made for the old syllabus. What else changed in the exam is covered in the article on HSK 3.0.

What you can do at HSK 1

The syllabus groups the first three levels as the everyday-communication stage. HSK 1 is the very start of it, Chinese from zero: say hello and introduce yourself, talk about your family, give the date and the time, order food and ask the price, say where you need to go, and say a few things about your studies or your job. Here are a few words of the level, one from each topic:

• 认识rènshito know (a person), to meet
• 妹妹mèimeiyounger sister
• 星期天xīngqītiānSunday
• 饺子jiǎozidumplings
• 出租车chūzūchētaxi
• 汉字HànzìChinese character

The hard part of level 1 is not the number of words but a few habits English doesn't have.

• Tones. In English, pitch shows your mood, like a rising "yes?". In Chinese the melody of a syllable is part of the word, so you learn it together with the word from day one. The article on tones shows how the four tones sound, and you can play any syllable in the pinyin chart.
• Measure words. English does something like it with "a cup of tea" or "a pair of shoes", but Chinese puts a special word between every number and the noun: for people and things in general 个 gè, for animals 只 zhī, for books 本 běn.
• Two words for "two". When you count or read out numbers you say 二 èr, and when you count things, 两 liǎng.

The HSK 1 exam: what's on it

In the new format, going by the official sample papers on chinesetest.cn, the HSK 1 exam has two parts and 40 questions.

• Listening. Hear a sentence or a short dialogue and pick the matching picture; hear a question and pick the answer; answer a question about what you heard.
• Reading. Match a picture to a sentence and an answer to a question, fill a word into a gap, answer a question about a short text.
• Pinyin. All the question text has pinyin above it, so an unfamiliar character won't leave you stuck.

You don't write characters at level 1. The speaking test (HSKK) is taken together with the written exam only from level 3. In the old format HSK 1 has the same two parts and the same 40 minutes.

Passing score. It hasn't been officially announced for the new format. In the old format you needed 120 points out of 200.

The exam is run by test centres, many of them at universities, and the result is valid for two years. Dates and fees are set by each centre and differ from country to country: look them up on chinesetest.cn or ask the centre itself. Registration and exam day are covered in more detail in the article on the HSK exam.

The HSK 1 textbook: what people study with

The most widely used series is HSK Standard Course (HSK 标准教程) from Beijing Language and Culture University Press. For level 1 it has one textbook and a workbook to go with it.

The series was written for the old format, that is for 150 words — half of what HSK 1 asks for under the new syllabus. New editions are coming out for HSK 3.0, so before you buy, check which version of the syllabus the book follows: it says so on the cover and on the copyright page. How to choose a textbook and what to add to it is covered in the article on HSK textbooks.

How long it takes to learn HSK 1, and how to prepare

In our course the first level is 61 lessons following the HSK 3.0 syllabus. At one lesson a day that's about two months. That's the course's pace, not a promise: some people like to go faster, others every other day. During the beta the whole course is free with an account, and the first section of HSK 1 works without signing up.

The order of preparation is the same whether you use a textbook or a course:

• Words. With the sound and the tone from the start, in small portions, with reviews. At level 1 you also learn pinyin — without it you can't read the words.
• Grammar. There isn't much at HSK 1: word order, questions with 吗 ma, the negatives 不 bù and 没有 méiyǒu, measure words. The basics are in the article "Chinese grammar for beginners".
• Listening. Half the exam is listening, and the recording goes at its own pace and won't wait for you. Listen to every new word and to short dialogues from day one.
• Mock test. At the end, a full timed paper, to get used to the question types and see which part is weak.

Where to test yourself

The quick check is the HSK 1 vocabulary test: 20 questions, three or four minutes, free. It shows how many words of the level you already recognize by ear, by the character and by the meaning.

The full check is the HSK 1 mock test in the new exam format. The first paper is open to everyone; during the beta the other papers and a review of every question open free with a Nomto account. If level 1 already feels easy, see what comes next: HSK 2 — the complete guide.