HSK 1 flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

你好 (nǐ hǎo)

Standard greeting meaning 'hello'. Used at any time of day with anyone; the reply is normally 你好 or 您好 for a polite, formal register.

谢谢 (xièxie)

Means 'thank you'. A common listening distractor is 不谢 ('you're welcome'), so match the reply to the situation rather than the sound.

对不起 (duìbuqǐ)

Means 'sorry' or 'excuse me' after a mistake. 没关系 (méi guānxi, 'it doesn't matter') is the standard reply and often appears as a printed option.

再见 (zàijiàn)

Means 'goodbye', literally 'see again'. It closes a dialogue, so in listening Part 3 it signals that the conversation is ending and no new information follows.

Numbers 1-10

一 yī, 二 èr, 三 sān, 四 sì, 五 wǔ, 六 liù, 七 qī, 八 bā, 九 jiǔ, 十 shí. Eleven to ninety-nine are built as 十一, 二十, 九十九.

几 (jǐ)

Question word asking 'how many' for small numbers, usually under ten. It requires a measure word: 几个人 (how many people), 几点 (what time).

多少 (duōshao)

Question word for 'how much' or 'how many', used with larger numbers and with prices. 多少钱 asks the price of an item.

块 (kuài)

Spoken unit of Chinese currency, one yuan. 三块五 means three yuan fifty; 元 is the formal written form used on printed price tags.

点 (diǎn)

Marks the hour in clock time: 三点 is three o'clock. Minutes follow with 分, as in 三点十分 (three ten).

月 and 号 (yuè, hào)

月 marks the month and 号 the day of the month in speech: 五月八号 is May eighth. 日 is the formal written equivalent of 号.

今天 明天 昨天

Mean today, tomorrow, and yesterday. These time words normally come after the subject and before the verb, as in 我今天很忙.

吗 (ma)

Question particle placed at the end of a statement to make a yes/no question: 你好吗? The word order does not change.

呢 (ne)

Follows a noun or pronoun to ask 'and what about...?': 我很好, 你呢? It avoids repeating the whole previous question.

不 and 没

不 negates present, habitual, or future actions; 没有 negates possession and completed actions. 不是 and 没有 are frequent wrong-option markers in listening.

谁 (shéi)

Question word meaning 'who'. In listening, the answer is a person's name or a noun such as 老师 or 朋友, never a place or a number.

哪儿 (nǎr)

Question word meaning 'where'. The answer is a place, often with 在: 在学校, 在家, 在医院. Do not confuse it with 那儿 ('there').

Measure word 个 (gè)

The general measure word used when no specific one applies: 一个人, 三个朋友. Most nouns in HSK 1 take 个 unless a specific measure word is taught.

Measure word 本 (běn)

Used for books and similar bound items: 一本书, 两本词典. Hearing 本 before a noun signals that the object is a book.

我叫 (wǒ jiào)

Means 'my name is' or 'I am called', followed by the name. 你叫什么名字? is the matching question heard in Part 3 dialogues.

我是学生

Pattern 我是 + noun identifies occupation or nationality: 我是老师, 我是中国人. The verb 是 is required before a noun predicate.

有 (yǒu)

Means 'have' or 'there is'. Its negative is 没有, never 不有. The pattern 我有 + noun states possession, as in 我有一个哥哥.

的 (de)

Links a modifier or possessor to a noun: 我的书, 妈妈的朋友, 很好的老师. It is omitted with close family terms such as 我妈妈.

了 (le)

Marks a completed action after the verb: 我吃了饭. It is not a past-tense marker in general and does not appear with 是.

在 (zài)

Marks location before the verb: 我在家看书. It also forms the progressive 正在...呢 for an action in progress.

很 (hěn)

Means 'very' and links a subject to an adjective: 我很忙, 他很好. With a bare adjective predicate, 很 is normally present even when 'very' is not stressed.

Chinese word order

Subject + time + place + verb + object: 我明天在家看书. An option placing the time word after the verb is grammatically wrong.

太...了 (tài...le)

Pattern meaning 'too' or 'so': 太好了, 太贵了. The 了 at the end is required, so an option with 太 but no 了 is incomplete.

请 (qǐng)

Means 'please' or 'invite' and precedes a verb: 请进, 请坐, 请问. In reading, 请问 introduces a polite question and is followed by the actual question.

会 and 能

会 expresses a learned skill or future possibility; 能 expresses ability or permission in a situation. 我会说汉语 and 我能去 are both correct but differ in nuance.

喜欢 (xǐhuan)

Means 'like', followed by a noun or verb: 我喜欢看书. The object comes directly after it, with no preposition needed.

认识 (rènshi)

Means 'know' a person or 'be acquainted with': 我认识他. It is not used for knowing a fact, which uses 知道.

都 (dōu)

Means 'all' and comes after the subject and before the verb: 我们都是学生. It cannot precede the subject in a simple statement.