HSK 3: the complete guide — words, exam, textbook and preparation

October 10, 2026 · 8 min read

HSK 3 is the third level of the international Chinese proficiency exam and the last one of the beginner stage: once you have it, you can get by in everyday life, on a trip and at school. How many words HSK 3 takes depends on the syllabus: 1,000 under the new HSK 3.0, 600 under the old one. And there is one more difference from the first two levels: on the HSK 3 exam there is no pinyin over the characters anymore.

How many words and characters are in HSK 3

The HSK 3 vocabulary under the new syllabus is 500 new words on top of the 500 from the first two levels. Characters are counted separately: by the end of the level you need to recognize 655 of them when reading, 284 of which are new.

The standard asks you to write fewer characters by hand than to recognize: levels 1 and 2 share one list of 100, and after that it grows by about 150 per level. When you see "HSK 3 3.0" in the name of a course or a word list, it means exactly this: level 3 under the new syllabus. What else changed is in the article on HSK 3.0.

What you can do at HSK 3

In the new syllabus, levels 1 to 3 are the stage of everyday communication, and level 3 completes it. The topics in our course: personality and feelings, home and daily life, shopping, travel, studies, work, sport and culture. At level 2 you named things and actions; here you start judging them: convenient or not, a good fit or not, fresh or from yesterday.

A few words of the level — tap to hear them:

• 邻居línjūneighbor
• 方便fāngbiànconvenient
• 新鲜xīnxiānfresh
• 合适héshìsuitable, the right fit
• 锻炼duànliànto work out, to exercise
• 感冒gǎnmàoa cold; to catch a cold

You also get words that tie a thought into a sentence: 应该 yīnggāi — should, ought to, 好像 hǎoxiàng — it seems, looks like. With them you can do more than state a fact: you can give advice or make a guess.

The HSK 3 exam: what's on it

In the new format, going by the official sample papers, the exam has 70 questions and takes about 83 minutes.

The old format is a little longer: 80 questions — 40 listening, 30 reading and 10 writing, about 90 minutes. Which one you get depends on the date: test centres are switching to the new format at different times, and until a centre switches, it runs the old exam. Check which format your session uses before you book.

From level 3 on, you also take the speaking test, the HSKK, on the same day as the written exam. HSK 3 comes with the beginner HSKK: 17 minutes in which you repeat sentences after a speaker and answer questions, and your answers are recorded. The HSKK pass mark is 60 out of 100.

About the HSK 3 passing score, to be honest: for the new format it hasn't been officially announced. In the old format you needed 180 out of 300. Dates, fees and registration rules are on chinesetest.cn or with your test centre; fees differ from country to country. The general process is in the article on the HSK exam.

Registering for level 3 and above usually needs a photo too, and seats are limited — don't leave it to the last week.

HSK 3 is the first level without pinyin

At levels 1 and 2, every character in the questions has a hint in Latin letters above it. At level 3 it's gone, and that changes the exam more than 500 new words do. A word you know by ear and in pinyin but don't recognize in characters simply doesn't exist for you on exam day.

• Reading against the clock. 30 questions in 30 minutes. There's no time to take a character apart: you need to recognize words at a glance.
• Writing on your own. Write in a character and make up a sentence about a picture with a given word. There's nowhere to peek at the spelling — what saves you is a hand that remembers the stroke order. You can train it with the handwriting sheets.
• A habit, not knowledge. If your eyes still go to the pinyin line, unlearn it early: cover the pinyin in your textbook and in your word lists.

The HSK 3 textbook and workbook

The most widely used series is HSK Standard Course (HSK 标准教程) from Beijing Language and Culture University Press. For HSK 3 it has one textbook and one workbook: the textbook brings the new material, the workbook has exercises for every lesson.

The series was written for the old format — for 600 words, not 1,000. 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 and how to work with the workbook is in the article on HSK textbooks.

How long HSK 3 takes, and how to prepare

In our course, level 3 is 94 lessons. At one lesson a day that's about three months; that's the course's pace, not a promise: with review and skipped days it usually takes longer. Count from a solid level 2 — more on it in the article on HSK 2.

• Learn each word in characters from the start. The character and the sound first; pinyin only to check yourself.
• Write a little every day. One or two sentences of your own with a new word — exactly what the writing part will ask for.
• Listen to stories, not single phrases. The listening part has short monologues: you have to keep several sentences in a row in your head.
• Speak out loud. The speaking test is required, and the beginner HSKK starts with repeating sentences you hear.

Where to test yourself: an HSK 3 test and mock exam

A quick vocabulary check is the HSK 3 vocabulary test: 20 questions by ear, by character and by meaning, three or four minutes, free. A more serious check is a full mock paper with a timer and all three parts.

During the beta, the other papers and a review of every question are free with a Nomto account. There is no speaking part in the mock test — practice that separately. If level 3 already feels easy, see what comes next: HSK 4 — twice the words, and a connected text instead of a single sentence.