Chinese Words Vocabulary – 200 Most Useful Words Organized by Topic

When starting to learn Chinese, it’s important to build a foundation of basic vocabulary. Here are some of the most essential Chinese words and phrases to know.

The Mandarin Chinese language has over 50,000 characters (although you don’t need to learn that many!) and there are probably over 300,000 Chinese words. But just like characters, you don’t need to learn that much vocabulary. To learn Chinese vocabulary, you can study the conventional HSK books, or follow special courses developed by GoEast, such as Spoken Chinese Language and Business Chinese. But there will always be words that fall outside of any category, which is why we made this article.

Chinese HSK vocabulary (1 to 6)

The official Chinese language learning, HSK, is both popular and clever, and beginner-friendly. The amount of words double each level, so after finishing HSK1 you’ll know 150 Chinese words. The amount of Chinese vocabulary you’ll know after subsequent levels: HSK2 300, HSK3 600, HSK4 1200, HSK5 2500, HSK6 5000. Don’t be too daunted by the seemingly impossible task of learning 5000 words for HSK6: it’s definitely easy to learn 2500 words if you’ve already learned 2500.

At GoEast Mandarin we’ve developed a full HSK vocabulary list for you. The list is rather big: 5000 words, including Chinese Hanzi characters, Pinyin pronunciation, and English translation. Leave your email here and we’ll send it to you, along with weekly learning tips (you can always unsubscribe).

Basic Chinese Words

Mandarin Chinese has a multitude of characters and words. Focus first on everyday, core vocabulary in Mandarin:

你好 (Nǐ hǎo) – Hello
谢谢 (Xièxiè) – Thank you
是 (Shì) – To be
好 (Hǎo) – Good
不好 (Bù hǎo) – Not good
我 (Wǒ) – I/me
你 (Nǐ) – You
在哪里 (Zài nǎlǐ) – Where
去 (Qù) – To go
来 (Lái) – To come
东西 (Dōngxi) – Thing
这里 (Zhèlǐ) – Here
那里 (Nàlǐ) – There

And another 40+ basic nouns, verbs, question words:

学生 (xuésheng) – student
先生 (xiānshēng) – mister
小姐 (xiǎojiě) – miss
老师 (lǎoshī) – teacher
医生 (yīshēng) – doctor
吃 (chī) – to eat
喝 (hē) – to drink
什么 (shénme) – what
哪里 (nǎlǐ) – where
几 (jǐ) – how many
谁 (shéi) – who
怎么 (zěnme) – how
为什么 (wèishénme) – why
现在 (xiànzài) – now
今天 (jīntiān) – today
昨天 (zuótiān) – yesterday

Start Learning Characters

Don’t be afraid of Chinese characters—start learning some basic ones that come up frequently:

人 (rén) – person
东西 (dōngxi) – thing
家 (jiā) – home

Listen closely as native speakers say these words to learn the tones and pronunciation. Over time, you’ll start to recognize more Chinese characters.

Conversing in Chinese

Use the basic Chinese vocabulary to build short phrases:

你好吗? (Nǐ hǎo ma?) – How are you?
我很好 (Wǒ hěn hǎo) – I’m good
谢谢 (Xièxiè) – Thank you

Extracurricular Chinese vocabulary

On our social media channels, we’ve often posted vocabulary cards with Chinese words on a specific topic. Here we list them out for you!

Scroll down for vocabulary in Chinese for:

Star Wars
Pokémon
Yoga and meditation
Job hunting
Working from home
Romantic
LGBT terms
Back to school
Spring terms
Summer vocabulary
Teacher Day
Mother’s Day
International Woman’s Day
Halloween
Werewolves
Coronavirus
Car names
(Alternative) military terms
Hotpot

Star Wars vocabulary in Chinese

Here’s the Chinese Star Wars vocabulary you are looking for. This will be less funny if you’re aren’t into Wookies and Star Destroyers, but you can still use these words when your Chinese friends insist to talk about the latest Star Wars movie with you.

Darth Vader	达斯维达	dá sī wéi dá
Jedi Knight	绝地武士	jué dì wǔ shì
Sith Lord	西斯尊主	xī sī zūn zhǔ
ChewBacca	丘巴卡	qiū bā kǎ
The Force	原力	yuán lì
SkyWalker	天行者	tiān xíng zhě

Pokémon names in Chinese

You know Psyduck and Pikachu, but do you know their Mandarin names? More about Pokémon in Chinese here.

Pokemon	精灵宝可梦	jīng líng bǎo kě mèng
Charizard	喷火龙	pēn huǒ lóng
Poke’ball	精灵球	jīng líng qiú
Meowth	喵喵	miāo miāo
Evolution	进化	jìn huà
Rattata	小拉达	xiǎo lā dá
Gym Leader	道馆馆主	dào guǎn guǎn zhǔ
MewTwo	超梦	chāo mèng
Badge	徽章	huī zhāng
Togepi	波克比	bō kè bǐ
Lengendary Pokemon	传说的宝可梦	chuán shuō de bǎo kě mèng
Growlithe	卡蒂狗	kǎ dì gǒu
FirePokemon	火系宝可梦	huǒ xì bǎo kě mèng
StarYu	海星星	hǎi xīng xīng
WaterPokemon	水系宝可梦	shuǐ xì bǎo kě mèng
Golbat	大嘴蝠	dà zuǐ fú
Bulbasaur	妙蛙种子	miào wā zhǒng zi
Jigglypuff	胖丁	pàng dīng
Charmander	小火龙	xiǎo huǒ lóng
Diglett	地鼠	dì shǔ
Squirtle	杰尼龟	jié ní guī
Tentacool	玛瑙水母	mǎ nǎo shuǐ mǔ
Pikachu	皮卡丘	pí kǎ qiū
Team Rocket	火箭队	huǒ jiàn duì
Psyduck	可达鸭	kě dá yā

Yoga and meditation terms in Chinese

Because who doesn’t need some calming down these days?

Meditation	冥想	míng xiǎng
Relax	放松	fàng sōng
Zen	禅	chán
Introspection	内省	nèi xǐng
Loose your limbs	舒展	shū zhǎn
Arms & Shoulders	手臂和肩膀	shǒu bì hé jiān bǎng
Inhale Deeply	深吸气	shēn xī qì
Breath out slowly	慢慢呼吸	màn màn hū xī
Calm	平静	píng jìng
Peaceful	祥和	xiáng hé

Chinese job-hunting words

Are you learning Chinese to help your job prospects? Here are some useful vocabulary terms.

Resume	简历	jiǎn lì
Contract	合同	hé tóng
Cover Letter	求职信	qiú zhí xìn
Intership	实习	shí xí
Written E’x’amination	笔试	bǐ shì
Join a company	入职	rù zhí
Interview	面试	miàn shì
Promotion	升职	shēng zhí

Working from home vocabulary

It’s what everybody is doing these days, no? Well, now you can talk about it in Mandarin.

Home Office	在家办公	zài jiā bàn gōng
Pajamas	睡衣	shuì yī
I didn’t do my hair yet	我还没梳头	wǒ hái méi shū tóu
Video Call	视频电话	shì pín diàn huà
Sorry bad connection	对不起连接不好	duì bù qǐ lián jiē bù hǎo
Let me show you my cat	让你看看我的猫	ràng nǐ kàn kàn wǒ de māo
Can you please mute your microphne?	可以让麦克风静音吗	kě yǐ ràng mài kè fēng jìng yīn ma

Romantic Chinese vocabulary

Here are some of the best of the worst pick-up lines & vocab for Valentine’s Day, 520, or any date you have. (We give no guarantees all this smooth-talking will get you anywhere, but at least your Mandarin words will be correct.)

Single dog	单身狗	dān shēn gǒu
Cradle Snatcher	姐弟恋	jiě dì liàn
Born to be single	母胎单身	mǔ tāi dān shēn
Falling in love at an elder age ( Twilight love)	黄昏恋	huáng hūn liàn
Public display of affection	秀恩爱	xiù ēn ài
Date	约会	yuē huì
Long-distance Relationship	异地恋	yì dì liàn

LGBT vocabulary in Mandarin in Chinese

This list isn’t all-inclusive, but hopefully, it’ll help you to talk in a more accurate and respectful way when chatting about LGBT topics in Mandarin — so you’re not left in the dark as your friends and colleagues discuss more diverse topics.

Gay	男同	nán tóng
Lesbian	女同/拉拉	nǚ tóng / lā lā
Homosexual	同性恋	tóng xìng liàn
Bisexual	双性恋	shuāng xìng liàn
Transgender	变性人	biàn xìng rén
Queer	酷儿	kù ér
CIS-Gender	顺性别	shùn xìng bié
Coming out	出柜	chū guì

Back to school vocabulary

Go back to school well-prepared with these Chinese words.

Study Books	课本	kè běn
School Timetables	课程表	kè chéng biǎo
Campus	校园	xiào yuán
Skip Class	翘课	qiào kè
Professor	教授	jiào shòu
Ask for leave	请假	qǐng jià
Studying	研究	yán jiū
Underachiever	学渣	xué zhā
Backpack	书包	shū bāo
Straight-A Student	学霸	xué bà

Chinese spring vocabulary

For when spring is in the air: time of lambs and hayfever. Learn to express your joy in Chinese words.

Lamb	小羊	xiǎo yáng
Daffodil	水仙花	shuǐ xiān huā
Fly a kite	放风筝	fàng fēng zhēng
Garden	花园	huā yuán
Picnic	野餐	yě cān
The Birds and the bees	鸟和蜜蜂	niǎo hé mì fēng
Mother Nature	大自然	dà zì rán
Hayfever	花粉过敏	huā fěn guò mǐn

Chinese Summer vocabulary

Learn to complain about the hot temperatures in Chinese with this vocabulary list.

Air Conditioner	空调	kōng tiáo
Sweating	出汗	chū hàn
Heatwave	热浪	rè làng
Sunglasses & Sunscreen	太阳镜和防晒霜	tài yáng jìng hé fáng shài shuāng
Swimming Pool	游泳池	yóu yǒng chí
Barbecue	烤肉	kǎo ròu
Slippers	人字拖	rén zì tuō
Icecream	冰淇淋	bīng qí lín
Watermelon	西瓜	xī guā
Pinacolada	椰林飘香	yē lín piāo xiāng

Teacher’s Day in Chinese words

How to call teachers around the world in Chinese. Just add thank you and a gift!

Kindergarten Teachers	幼儿园老师	yòu ér yuán lǎo shī
Primary School Teachers	小学老师	xiǎo xué lǎo shī
Middle School Teachers	中学老师	zhōng xué lǎo shī
High School Teachers	高中老师	gāo zhōng lǎo shī
University Teachers	大学老师	dà xué lǎo shī
Professors	教授	jiào shòu
Special Education Teacher	特殊教育老师	tè shū jiào yù lǎo shī
Secondary Language Teachers	外语老师	wài yǔ lǎo shī

Mother’s Day Chinese vocabulary

How to call all sorts of mommies in Chinese.

Mom	妈妈/妈咪	mā mā / mā mī
Mother	母亲	mǔ qīn
Career Mom	职场妈妈	zhí chǎng mā mā
Tiger Mom	虎妈	hǔ mā
Step Mom	后妈	hòu mā
Single Mom	单亲妈妈	dān qīn mā mā
Mother-in-law	婆婆/岳母	pó pó / yuè mǔ
Adoptive Mom	养母	yǎng mǔ
Young Stylish Mom	年轻时尚的妈妈	nián qīng shí shàng de mā mā
Hot Mom	辣妈	là mā

International Women’s Day

Lost for words to describe an amazing woman? We’re here to help (ahead of International Woman’s Day).

Strong Woman	女强人	nǚ qiáng rén
Little fairy	小仙女	xiǎo xiān nǚ
younger sister	小姐姐	xiǎo jiě jiě
Goddess	女神	nǚ shén
Wonder Woman	神奇女侠	shén qí nǚ xiá
Queen	女王	nǚ wáng
Besite	闺蜜	guī mì
Princess	公主	gōng zhǔ

Halloween Chinese vocabulary

Getting dressed up for Halloween? Make sure you’re not just 可怕kěpà, but also linguistically correct. Know the right Chinese words with this Halloween list.

Scary	可怕	kě pà
Candy	糖果	táng guǒ
Pumpkin	南瓜	nán guā
Black Cat	黑猫	hēi māo
Bats	蝙蝠	biān fú
Ghosts	鬼	guǐ
Werewolf	狼人	láng rén
Vampire	吸血鬼	xī xuè guǐ
Witch	巫婆	wū pó
Mummy	木乃伊	mù nǎi yī

Werewolves vocabulary in Chinese

Here’s vocabulary for this game in Chinese, which we also play in our online events.

Werewolf	狼人	láng rén
Moderator	法官	fǎ guān
Night	天黑	tiān hēi
Dawn	天亮	tiān liàng
Hunter	猎人	liè rén
Seer	预言家	yù yán jiā
Close Eyes	闭眼	bì yǎn
Open Eyes	睁眼	zhēng yǎn
Witch	女巫	nǚ wū
Protector	守卫	shǒu wèi
Poison	毒药	dú yào
Antidote	解药	jiě yào
Villager	村民	cūn mín
Spectator	观众	guān zhòng
Tell a Lie	说谎	shuō huǎng
Voting	表决	biǎo jué
Good Person	好人	hǎo rén
Bad Person	坏人	huài rén
First Round	第一回合	dì yī huí hé
Game is over	游戏结束了	yóu xì jié shù le

Novel coronavirus in Mandarin

It’s what’s everybody is thinking and talking about at the beginning of 2020. Here are some terms in Chinese Hanzi & Pinyin for you to learn about the novel coronavirus.

Novel Coronavirus	新型冠状病毒	xīn xíng guān zhuàng bìng dú
Epidemic	疫情	yì qíng
Quarantine	隔离	gé lí
Virus	病毒	bìng dú
Wear a Mask	戴口罩	dài kǒu zhào
Pneumonia	肺炎	fèi yán
To have a fever	发烧	fā shāo
To spread	传播	chuán bō
To cough	咳嗽	ké sòu
Heavy breathing	呼吸困难	hū xī kùn nán
To recover	恢复	huī fù

Car (nick)names in Chinese

“Fat dragon”, “Don’t touch me” and other car nicknames in Chinese.

Military vocabulary in Chinese

Military vocabulary for the Military Parade in China. But while we like men and women in suits, we’re not a huge fan of guns and everything. So here are some alternative terms instead.

Chinese Hotpot vocabulary

See the list of hotpot vocabulary in more detail in this article.

Spicy broth	麻辣锅	má là guō
Double-flavor hot pot	鸳鸯锅	yuān yāng guō
Mushroom soup pot	菌汤锅	jūn tāng guō
Seafood Pot	海鲜锅	hǎi xiān guō
Tomato soup broth	番茄锅	fān qié guō
Not Spicy	不辣的	bù là de
Mild	微辣的	wēi là de
Medium	中辣的	zhōng là de
Hot	重辣的	zhòng là de
Super Spicy	超级辣	chāo jí là
Sesame paste	芝麻酱	zhī má jiàng
Hoisin sauce	海鲜酱	hǎi xiān jiàng
Chili sauce	辣椒酱	là jiāo jiàng
Tabasco sauce	超级辣酱	chāo jí là jiàng
Peanut sauce	花生酱	huā shēng jiàng
Fermented bean curd	豆腐乳	dòu fǔ rǔ
Lao Gan Ma Chili	老干妈	lǎo gān mā
Beef tripe	毛肚	máo dǔ
Thousand-layer tripe	千层肚	qiān céng dǔ
Duck/goose intestine	鸭/鹅肠	yā / é cháng
Duck blood	鸭血	yā xuè
Fresh pork aorta	黄喉	huáng hóu
Pig brain	猪脑	zhū nǎo
Mutton	羊肉	yáng ròu
Meatballs	肉丸	ròu wán
Quail eggs	鹌鹑蛋	ān chún dàn
Mashed shrimp balls	虾滑	xiā huá
Fat beef	肥牛	féi niú
Fat mutton	肥羊	féi yáng
White rice	白米饭	bái mǐ fàn
Glass noodles	粉丝	fěn sī
Wide noodles	宽粉	kuān fěn
Hand-made noodles	捞面	lāo miàn
Little sidedish	小菜	xiǎo cài
Chinese cabbage	白菜	bái cài
Water spinach	空心菜	kōng xīn cài
Lettuce	油麦菜/生菜	yóu mài cài / shēng cài
Broccoli	西兰花	xī lán huā
Black fungus	黑木耳	hēi mù ěr
Seaweed	海带	hǎi dài
Potato	土豆	tǔ dòu
Chinese yam	山药	shān yào
Corn	玉米	yù mǐ
Tofu	豆腐	dòu fǔ

Football vocabulary in Chinese

Know what to say in Chinese to the telly or your friends. Shout it in Mandarin Chinese, but do it amicably.

คําศัพท์ภาษาจีน

European Championship	欧洲杯	ōu zhōu bēi
Red card	红牌	hóng pái
National footbal team	国家足球队	guó jiā zú qiú duì
Yellow card	黄牌	huáng pái
Group phase	小组赛	xiǎo zǔ sài
Goal	进球	jìn qiú
Elimination phase	淘汰赛	táo tài sài
Offside	越位	yuè wèi
Final	决赛	jué sài
Foul	犯规	fàn guī
Manager	团队经理	tuán duì jīng lǐ
Referee	裁判	cái pàn
Striker	前锋	qián fēng
Winger	边锋	biān fēng
Midfielder	中场	zhōng chǎng
Defender	后卫	hòu wèi
Goalkeeper	守门员	shǒu mén yuán

Olympic Games vocabulary in Chinese

The Olympic Games, with more than two hundred countries participating, are considered the world’s biggest sports competition. How’s your home country doing? Use these words to talk about it in Mandarin with Chinese friends.