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Mandarin HSK 2 — Core Words, Part 1 flashcards

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100 words for HSK 2 under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: family, time, everyday verbs, describing words, places and directions, food, and the adverbs and prepositions that build longer sentences, with tone-marked pinyin and an original example for each.

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Learn deck · part of HSK 1–3 (Mandarin) · written against: Every word of HSK 1–3 under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus published in November 2025 (988 words, levels 1–3), with grammar patterns and in-context cloze; headword levels checked against its word list. Updated 2026-10-10.

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The 10 sample cards as a list
  1. 哥哥 (gēge) (n.)
    我哥哥下班以后常常去打篮球。 (Wǒ gēge xiàbān yǐhòu chángcháng qù dǎ lánqiú.)
    older brother

    My older brother often goes to play basketball after work.
    People & Pronouns
  2. 两 (兩) (liǎng) (num.)
    我想买两本书。 (Wǒ xiǎng mǎi liǎng běn shū.)
    two (before a measure word)

    I want to buy two books.

    Watch out: Counting, dates and phone numbers use 二 (èr): 一、二、三; 二月.
    Numbers & Measure Words
  3. 早上 (zǎoshang) (n.)
    爸爸早上七点就出门了。 (Bàba zǎoshang qī diǎn jiù chūmén le.)
    (early) morning

    At seven in the morning Dad had already left the house.
    Time
  4. 帮助 (幫助) (bāngzhù) (v.)
    谢谢你帮助我。 (Xièxie nǐ bāngzhù wǒ.)
    to help; help

    Thank you for helping me.

    Note: In everyday speech 帮 (bāng) alone is very common: 帮我一下 — give me a hand.

    HSK 3.0: level 3 in the 2025 exam syllabus, above this deck's level.
    Verbs
  5. 白 (bái) (adj.)
    我喜欢白色。 (Wǒ xǐhuan báisè.)
    white

    I like white.

    Note: Colour names usually take 色 (sè) when used as nouns: 白色, 红色 (hóngsè), 黑色 (hēisè).

    HSK 3.0: 白 alone is level 5 in the 2025 exam syllabus; 白色 is level 2.
    Adjectives
  6. 机场 (機場) (jīchǎng) (n.)
    下雨了，去机场的路上车特别多。 (Xià yǔ le, qù jīchǎng de lùshang chē tèbié duō.)
    airport

    It's raining, and there's heavy traffic on the way to the airport.
    Places & Directions
  7. 咖啡 (kāfēi) (n.)
    姐姐不喝咖啡，她说喝了晚上睡不着。 (Jiějie bù hē kāfēi, tā shuō hēle wǎnshang shuìbuzháo.)
    coffee

    Measure word: 杯 (bēi), cup: 一杯咖啡

    My older sister doesn't drink coffee; she says it keeps her awake at night.
    Food & Drink
  8. 报纸 (報紙) (bàozhǐ) (n.)
    爷爷每天早上看报纸。 (Yéye měi tiān zǎoshang kàn bàozhǐ.)
    newspaper

    Measure word: 份 (fèn): 一份报纸

    Every morning Grandpa reads the newspaper.

    HSK 3.0: level 3 in the 2025 exam syllabus, above this deck's level.
    Things & Objects
  9. 吧 (ba) (part.)
    我们走吧。 (Wǒmen zǒu ba.)
    particle for suggestions (let's…) or checking (…right?)

    Let's go.

    Note: It can also check an assumption: 你们两个人是大学同学吧？ — You two were at university together, right?
    Particles & Adverbs
  10. 从 (從) (cóng) (prep.)
    从这儿往前走，就是银行。 (Cóng zhèr wǎng qián zǒu, jiù shì yínháng.)
    from

    Walk straight on from here and the bank is right there.

    Note: 从…到… — from … to …: 从九点到五点, from nine to five.
    Prepositions & Conjunctions

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More HSK 1–3 (Mandarin) decks

Core Words, Part 1Core Words, Part 2Core Words, Part 3Core Words, Part 2Core Words, Part 3In Context: Core WordsCore Words, Part 1Core Words, Part 2Core Words, Part 3Core Words, Part 4Core Words, Part 5Core Words, Part 6Grammar PatternsIn Context: Core Words, Part 1In Context: Core Words, Part 2Practice Questions

← All HSK 1–3 (Mandarin) decks, with the study guide and topic outline.

About these cards

Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • Pinyin, tones, measure words and meanings checked against CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0) and the Taiwan Ministry of Education's dictionaries (the Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary and the Cross-Strait Dictionary 兩岸常用詞典, via moedict.tw) (reference only). Levels follow HSK 3.0: the HSK examination syllabus (HSK 考试大纲) published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation in November 2025, a separate document from the 2021 standard GF 0025-2021, which it cites among its references. Of the 100 headwords, 51 are level 2 and 44 are level-1 words the HSK 1 deck leaves out; 帮助, 欢迎 and 报纸 are level 3, 白 alone is level 5 (白色 is level 2), and 服务员 is not listed as a word (服务 is level 3). Their cards say so. Headword levels checked against two transcriptions of the syllabus word list (harukicoder/hsk30, drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary). All example sentences are original.

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