New HSK 2 word list (2026): all 200 words

By Andreu Puy · 23 October 2026 · 5 min read

The new HSK 2 exam adds 200 words to the 300 of HSK 1, so you need 500 in all. The list is set by the HSK 3.0 exam syllabus: published in November 2025, in force from July 2026, with the exam running worldwide from 13 December 2026, according to its organiser. The old HSK 2 added 150 words for 300 in all. All 200 are below, with pinyin and meaning.

How many words are in each HSK level?

HSK 7, 8 and 9 share one list, and the old exam stopped at HSK 6. The 2021 standard that the new HSK is built on uses the same nine levels with bigger lists at the bottom: 500 words at level 1 and 1,272 by level 2. The exam starts smaller and catches up: by HSK 6 it asks for 5,400 words, against 5,456 in the standard.

What changed in HSK 2

Against the old exam (HSK 2.0), about half of the old list keeps its level: 72 of the old HSK 2’s 150 words are still HSK 2, and 56 moved down to HSK 1, among them 大家, 便宜, 非常 and 房间. 13 moved up to HSK 3 (帮助, 报纸, 欢迎), and 白, 黑 and 红 are HSK 5 on their own, though the colours are taught here as 白色, 黑色 and 红色. Six old words are gone: 公共汽车 is now 公交车, 唱歌 and 打篮球 are taught in their parts, and 第一, 服务员 and 羊肉 are no longer listed on their own. In all, 83 of the 200 were not on the old exam at any level.

Against the 2021 standard, the new HSK 2 draws mostly on the standard’s first two levels: 95 of its 200 words are standard level-1 words and 76 are level 2. 24 come down from level 3 (咖啡, 裤子, 跑步), 妻子 and 丈夫 from level 4, and 踢 and 没意思 from higher levels. Going the other way, only 82 of the standard’s 772 level-2 words are HSK 2 words in the exam: 260 moved to HSK 3 and 226 to HSK 4.

All 200 HSK 2 words

In the syllabus’s own order, alphabetical by pinyin, and numbered as it numbers them, so you can check any entry against the official list. The type is the part of speech the syllabus gives at HSK 2; where it adds one for a higher level, only the HSK 2 ones are shown.

n. noun · v. verb · adj. adjective · adv. adverb · pron. pronoun · num. number · m.w. measure word · prep. preposition · conj. conjunction · part. particle · interj. interjection · phrase: a set phrase with no part of speech

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HSK 2 characters

The syllabus has two separate lists: one of words and one of characters, the characters you should be able to read on sight. HSK 1 has 246 characters and HSK 2 adds 125 more, so by the end of HSK 2 you should recognise 371. The two lists almost match: the 200 words use only characters from the HSK 1 and HSK 2 lists, and all but one of the 125 new characters appear in the HSK 1 or HSK 2 words. The missing one is 留 liú: it is on the HSK 2 character list, but no word uses it until HSK 3, in 留学 liúxué (to study abroad). Handwriting has its own, shorter list: 100 characters for HSK 1 and HSK 2 together.

How to learn the 200 words

Two hundred words is about three weeks at ten new words a day, and many of them build on what you learned for HSK 1. Three habits help:

• Build on the words you know. 回来 and 回去, 进来 and 进去 pair a verb with the 来 and 去 you already know from HSK 1.
• Learn measure words with their nouns: 一条鱼, 一间教室, 一位老师.
• Learn the tone with the word. 晴 qíng (sunny) is HSK 2 and 请 qǐng (please) is HSK 1, and 远 yuǎn (far) shares its syllable with 元 yuán: only the tone tells them apart.

Hanzio’s HSK 2 deck holds these words, apart from 点, which is in the HSK 1 deck. Add it once you know HSK 1 and the daily plan hands you a few new words each day, then reviews each one in up to four ways: meaning, pinyin, writing and listening. Start with the HSK 1 word list if you need it, and go on to the HSK 3 word list next.

Frequently asked questions

How many words are in HSK 2?

The new HSK 2 adds 200 words to the 300 of HSK 1, so you need 500 words in total. The old HSK 2 (HSK 2.0) had 300 in total, and the 2021 standard behind the new HSK lists 1,272 words by its level 2.

When does the new HSK exam start?

Chinese Testing International, which runs the exam, launches the new HSK worldwide on 13 December 2026. The syllabus itself has been in force since July 2026, and sittings earlier in 2026 are trials, so check with your test centre which version you are taking.

Are the old HSK 2 words still useful?

Yes. Of the old HSK 2’s 150 words, 72 are still HSK 2 and 56 moved down to HSK 1. Most of the rest moved up a level, and a few are now taught in another form, such as 公交车 for 公共汽车.

How long does it take to learn the HSK 2 words?

At ten new words a day, 200 words is about three weeks of new words. Reviews, tones and grammar take time too, so plan for longer.

Source for the list: 中文水平考试 HSK 考试大纲 (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, 2025), vocabulary syllabus, level 2, and its character lists. The launch date is from Chinese Testing International.