HSK 4 (Mandarin) flashcards
16 decks · 1,395 cards · built into Willys · free samples below
Written against: Every level-4 word of HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus published in November 2025 (990 words), with grammar patterns and in-context cloze; headword levels checked against its word list. Updated 2026-10-10.
In the app every card is read aloud: the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish or other language side in its own native voice and the English side in yours, with a hands-free Listen mode for whole decks.
What's in it
Every deck follows the course outline, with tags you can study or suspend topic by topic. Open a deck to study its free sample right here.
Learn · 12 decks · 1,073 cards
Concepts, mechanisms and the questions a course or exam asks about them.
Core Words, Part 1
100 words for HSK 4 under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025 (82 are level 4): people and jobs, measure words, time, everyday verbs, tastes and descriptions, feelings and character, home, travel, food and health, with tone-marked pinyin and original examples.
Core Words, Part 2
100 more words for HSK 4 under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025 (95 are level 4): study and work, ideas and opinions, verbs for discussing and deciding, describing words, attitude adverbs such as 原来, 果然, 竟然 and 到底, and linking words, with pinyin and original examples.
Core Words, Part 3
90 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: linking words such as 而, 与 and 因此, verbs like 进行 and 提供, measure words and time words, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 4
90 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: family and society, law and responsibility, linking words such as 不管, 即使 and 尽管, and everyday verbs, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 5
91 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: rules and work, feelings and relationships, arts and events, and verbs of cause and result, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 6
90 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: linking words such as 既然, 然而 and 加上, feelings and attitudes, places and the wider world, and everyday verbs, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 7
90 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: work and school, shopping and travel, feelings and character, and verbs of decrease such as 下降, 降低 and 减少, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 8
91 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: places and travel, food and home, people and feelings, and linking words such as 此外, 其次 and 不论, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 9
90 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: getting around and travel, home and daily life, places and directions, feelings and people, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 10
90 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: school and exams, weather and nature, travel, food and everyday things, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Core Words, Part 11
91 more HSK 4 words under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025: school and exams, travel and transport, food and drink, family pairs and life online, each in an original example sentence with pinyin, with the gloss, translation and some measure words on the back.
Grammar Patterns
60 grammar patterns for HSK 4 under HSK 3.0 (the November 2025 exam syllabus): 把 and 被 nuances, 连…都, 既…又, 不管 and 无论, 只要…就 vs 只有…才, 除了…以外, 甚至, 难道, comparisons, and result, directional and potential complements, each with an original example.
Drills · 3 decks · 277 cards
Short answers and cloze blanks for the facts you simply have to know cold.
In Context: Core Words, Part 1
Ninety-two HSK 4 sentences under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025, each blanking one level-4 word (people, everyday verbs, food, study and work, travel) so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint and the sentence's pinyin and translation shown.
In Context: Core Words, Part 2
Ninety-three HSK 4 sentences under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025, each blanking one level-4 word so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint and the sentence's pinyin and translation shown.
In Context: Core Words, Part 3
Ninety-two HSK 4 sentences under HSK 3.0, the HSK exam syllabus of November 2025, each blanking one level-4 word (people, everyday verbs, feelings, study and work, travel) so you produce it from context, with the English gloss as the hint and the sentence's pinyin and translation shown.
Practice · 1 deck · 45 questions
Multiple-choice practice questions, one best answer each, with the reasoning.
Cloze decks have one or more blanks per sentence; the app makes one card per blank.
Study guide
Topics covered
The decks follow the order of the course outline. Numbers are cards per topic.
- People & Pronouns 96
- Numbers & Measure Words 48
- Time 42
- Verbs 253
- Adjectives 103
- Places & Directions 63
- Food & Drink 54
- Things & Objects 87
- Body & Health 35
- Feelings & Character 79
- Travel & Transport 63
- Particles & Adverbs 78
- Prepositions & Conjunctions 45
- Ideas & Activities 134
- Work & Study 134
- Question Words 1
- Expressions 9
- Comparisons 5
- Linking Pairs 21
- Complements 21
- Special Constructions 11
- Emphasis & Rhetorical Questions 6
- Adverbs & Viewpoint 7
A study plan
- 50 new cards a day covers everything in a month, leaving the last weeks for review.
- 25 new cards a day covers everything in two months, leaving the last weeks for review.
- 17 new cards a day covers everything in three months, leaving the last weeks for review.
Willys schedules reviews for you (FSRS spaced repetition), so the daily number above is only for new cards; reviews of what you have learned come back on their own. Study a topic's cards right after you meet it in class, suspend topics you have not reached yet, and use the app's quiz mode in the final two weeks.
How to get these decks
- Install Willys on your iPhone, iPad or Mac — App Store. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
- In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
- Study. The exam comes in as its own collapsible folder, every card scheduled by FSRS spaced repetition. Nothing you already have is changed.
Every deck is built into Willys
All 16 HSK 4 (Mandarin) decks (1,395 cards), with FSRS spaced repetition, quizzes and mock tests, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. 14-day free trial, then $14.99 a year.
In Willys, tap Exam Library at the top of your Decks (or Browse Exam Library… under the + button), find the exam on its shelf or by search, tick it and tap Add.
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, 82 are level 4 and 12 are level 1–3 words, which the HSK 1–3 decks card as well (each folder covers its own levels in full); 朵, 打扮, 迷路, 邮局 and 减肥 are level 5, and 大使馆 is not listed as a word (使馆 is level 4). 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.
- 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, 95 are level 4 and 4 are level-3 words, which the HSK 1–3 decks card as well (each folder covers its own levels in full); 果然 is level 5, as its card notes. Headword levels checked against two transcriptions of the syllabus word list (harukicoder/hsk30, drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary). All example sentences are original.
- 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. The headwords are level-4 words of the syllabus that the folder's earlier parts do not card, in frequency order (frequency ranks from drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary); levels checked against two transcriptions of the syllabus word list (harukicoder/hsk30, drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary). Written-register labels follow Yan Ling (阎玲), 'Yuti Grammar and Written Chinese Vocabulary Teaching Suggestions' (语体语法与书面语词汇教学建议), International Journal of Chinese Language Education (EdUHK) No. 3, June 2018 (reference only). All example sentences are original.
- 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. The headwords are level-4 words of the syllabus that the folder's earlier parts do not card, in frequency order (frequency ranks from drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary); levels checked against two transcriptions of the syllabus word list (harukicoder/hsk30, drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary). All example sentences are original.
- 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. The headwords are level-4 words of the syllabus that the folder's earlier parts do not card, in frequency order (frequency ranks from drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary), with the 19 words it does not rank (使馆 to 短信) last; levels checked against two transcriptions of the syllabus word list (harukicoder/hsk30, drkameleon/complete-hsk-vocabulary), or against harukicoder/hsk30 and the syllabus itself for the 18 words drkameleon does not list. All example sentences are original.
- 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). Grammar rules checked against the University of Oxford CTCFL grammar pages, the grammar list in GF 0025-2021 (附录A) and published papers on 比 negatives, the 被 passive and degree complements (reference only; no text copied). 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. The patterns are those commonly taught at this level, and the examples use the folder's vocabulary. Against the syllabus's grammar list (语法大纲), 51 of the 60 patterns are listed: 17 at level 4, 32 at levels 2–3 and 2 at level 5 (再…也 and 得 + a clause); 9 are not itemised (差不多 comparisons, the result complements 掉, 成, 着 and 光, where an object goes in 起…来, where negatives and modals go in 把 and 被 sentences, and 以为 against 认为). Where a pattern is already carded in the HSK 1–3 or AP Chinese decks (for example 一…就, 又…又, 还是, comparisons with 比, 有 and 没有, 把 and 被, directional and potential complements, 得, 无论…都), the card here adds a further use or a contrast. All example sentences are original.
- Sentences reuse or follow the folder's vocabulary decks; 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. Pinyin 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). All sentences are original.
- 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. Questions are built on the folder's vocabulary and grammar decks, whose sources give the headword levels.
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