What is HSK 3.0 Band 1?

Band 1 is where Mandarin starts. These 300 words cover greetings, family, numbers, time, food, places, school and the everyday verbs that hold simple sentences together — enough to introduce yourself, order tea, ask prices, and survive a first conversation. They map roughly to the territory of the old HSK 1 and 2 combined, so they’re a meatier first milestone than the old system’s 150-word opener.

Because the new exams begin in July 2026, learning from the Band 1 syllabus now means studying the list your certificate will actually be tested on. And unlike the old HSK 1, Band 1 expects some written characters — around 100 basic ones — so it pays to meet hanzi from day one rather than hiding in pinyin.

This resource gives you all 300 HSK 3.0 Band 1 words in three forms: a downloadable A4 PDF organised by category for offline study and printing, an interactive search-and-filter web grid (above) for quick lookup, and native Mandarin pronunciation audio for every single word powered by Microsoft Xiaoxiao neural TTS.

How to use this Band 1 word list

Don’t try to memorise the entire Band 1 word list at once. Studies of vocabulary acquisition consistently show that spaced repetition + audio + sentence context is what makes words stick — not flashcard cramming. Here’s how to actually learn your first 300 words:

1. Print the PDF and stick it on your wall or fridge. Passive exposure adds up — you’ll glance at the categories during dead moments throughout the day.
2. Use the interactive grid above for daily drills. Filter by category, tap each word to hear native pronunciation, repeat aloud. 10 minutes per day beats 1 hour once a week.
3. Start with the sounds of real life: Greetings & Politeness (10 words), Pronouns & People (28), Family (11) and Numbers (24). With those 73 words you can already meet someone, introduce your family and count to a hundred.
4. Always learn words in clusters: 爸爸 / 妈妈 / 哥哥 / 姐姐 (the family set) together; 今天 / 明天 / 昨天 (today, tomorrow, yesterday) together — not in isolation. Band 1 is built from natural clusters like these, and related words reinforce each other.
5. Build a sentence with each new word. Knowing “喜欢 (xǐhuan, to like)” in isolation is useless — knowing “我喜欢喝茶 (wǒ xǐhuan hē chá, I like drinking tea)” is what gets you speaking. Every word in this sentence is on the Band 1 list.
6. Drill the tone twins early. 买 (mǎi, to buy) and 卖 (mài, to sell) differ only by tone — and mean opposites. And 他, 她 and 它 (he, she, it) are all pronounced tā: identical in speech, separated only in writing. Band 1 teaches you from the start that tones and characters both matter.

If you’re aiming at the new Band 1 exam itself, remember it tests more than recognition — from July 2026 the format includes handwriting of basic characters. Our 1-on-1 HSK Preparation course tracks the new format. For learners who just want to speak, our Basics course covers this vocabulary in conversational context from lesson one.

The 14 categories in this Band 1 word list

This Band 1 word list organises the 300 words into 14 categories grouped by how beginners actually use them — people, family, numbers, time, food, places, school, the body, everyday verbs and the grammar glue. Every category is small enough to learn in a session or two.

• Pronouns & People (28) — I, you, he, she, everyone, friend, classmate. The cast of your first conversations.
• Family (11) — Mum, dad, brothers, sisters, children. The people you’ll talk about most.
• Numbers & Measure Words (24) — One to a thousand, plus the measure words (个, 块, 件) Mandarin counts everything with.
• Time & Dates (29) — Today, tomorrow, years, weeks, o’clock. Mandarin tells time with vocabulary, not verb tenses.
• Food & Drink (20) — Tea, rice, dumplings, noodles, apples. Eating is most learners’ first real-world win.
• Places & Getting Around (25) — Shops, hospitals, stations, here and there, up and down. Getting around, literally.
• School & Work (27) — Teacher, student, study, work, Chinese itself. The classroom and office words.
• Body & Health (4) — Mouth, doctor, falling ill, seeing the doctor. Small but essential.
• Everyday Verbs (43) — Eat, drink, go, come, like, know, buy, sell. At 43 words, the engine room of Band 1.
• Adjectives & Descriptions (17) — Big, small, hot, cold, pretty, busy, cheap. Your first descriptions.
• Question Words (12) — Who, what, where, how many. Mandarin questions are vocabulary, not word order.
• Greetings & Politeness (10) — Hello, thank you, sorry, goodbye, you’re welcome. Politeness from day one.
• Particles & Function Words (25) — The particles (的, 了, 吗, 吧) and little words that hold sentences together.
• Things & Objects (25) — Phones, computers, money, clothes, weather. The nouns of daily life.

Preparing for the new Band 1 exam?

These 300 words are the entire Band 1 syllabus — but the exam also tests listening, reading patterns and grammar. Our 1-on-1 HSK Preparation course drills exam-specific skills with mock papers and pacing technique.

Book a free HSK consultation →

A three-week study plan

Here’s a three-week plan to absorb the entire Band 1 word list at roughly 15 words a day, 15–20 minutes a session — the gentlest on-ramp in the whole HSK system.

• Week 1: Greetings & Politeness (10) + Pronouns & People (28) + Family (11) + Numbers (24) + Question Words (12) — 85 words. By Sunday you can greet, introduce and count.
• Week 2: Time & Dates (29) + Food & Drink (20) + Places (25) + School & Work (27) + Body & Health (4) — 105 words. The world around you: order food, tell the time, name your school.
• Week 3: Everyday Verbs (43) + Adjectives (17) + Particles (25) + Things & Objects (25) — 110 words. The verbs and glue that turn words into sentences. Finish by filtering “All” in the grid and saying every word before the audio plays.

After three weeks you’ll have met all 300 words with native audio — and you’ll be ready for real sentences. The next rung is Band 2 (500 words cumulative): our Band 2 word list is live and ready when you are. In the meantime, the HSK levels guide shows the whole ladder.

FAQs

Sources: word list from the official HSK 3.0 (November 2025) syllabus via Chinese Testing International; English glosses adapted from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0).