Beginner Chinese Vocabulary: The First 200 Words to Learn

Why These 200 Words?

Not all vocabulary is created equal. Language frequency research consistently shows that a small core of words accounts for a disproportionately large share of everyday speech. In Mandarin Chinese, the most frequent 200 words cover roughly 50-60% of all spoken language. That means learning these 200 words gives you more communicative power than any other set of words you could study.

Our list is built on three data sources: the official HSK 1 vocabulary list (150 words the Chinese government considers essential for beginners), word frequency data from modern Chinese corpora, and practical travel & daily life phrasebooks. We merged these sources and ranked every word by a combined frequency-plus-utility score. Each category below is sequenced so you learn the highest-impact words first — greetings before food, pronouns and verbs early because they are structural glue, and question words midway through because you need to ask questions to keep conversations going.

Learn First: Essential Greetings (15 Words)

Greetings are the gateway to every interaction in Chinese. These 15 words and phrases will carry you through introductions, polite exchanges, and basic social encounters. Master these in your first week — you will use every single one of them daily. Pay attention to tones from the start; if you need help, our Chinese tones guide covers all four tones plus the neutral tone in detail.

Usage example: 你好，我叫 David。你叫什么名字？(Nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào David. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?) — "Hello, my name is David. What is your name?" This single exchange uses five words from the greetings list and demonstrates how quickly you can form real sentences.

Numbers 1-10 and Beyond (13 Words)

Chinese numbers are remarkably logical. Once you know 1-10, you can construct any number up to 99 by combining them. Eleven is literally "ten-one" (十一), twenty-five is "two-ten-five" (二十五), and ninety-nine is "nine-ten-nine" (九十九). Learn these 13 number words and you unlock the entire number system up to 9,999.

Usage example: 这个多少钱？三十五块。(Zhège duōshao qián? Sānshíwǔ kuài.) — "How much is this? 35 yuan." Notice how 35 is constructed as three-ten-five (三十五). This logical pattern means you only need to memorize 13 words to express any number up to thousands.

Family Members (15 Words)

Family is a central topic in Chinese culture, and talking about your family is one of the first conversations you will have. Chinese distinguishes between older and younger siblings and between paternal and maternal relatives — a level of specificity that does not exist in English. At the beginner level, focus on these core terms.

Usage example: 我家有五个人：爸爸、妈妈、哥哥、妹妹和我。(Wǒ jiā yǒu wǔ gè rén: bàba, māma, gēge, mèimei hé wǒ.) — "My family has five people: dad, mom, older brother, younger sister, and me." Describing your family is one of the most common beginner conversation topics.

Food & Drinks (20 Words)

Food is a cornerstone of Chinese culture. Knowing these 20 food and drink words lets you navigate restaurants, markets, and social meals. Chinese meals are often communal, so being able to discuss food preferences is both practical and culturally important.

Usage example: 我饿了，我想吃米饭和鱼。(Wǒ è le, wǒ xiǎng chī mǐfàn hé yú.) — "I'm hungry, I want to eat rice and fish." Combining food vocabulary with basic verbs lets you express needs immediately.

Basic Verbs (20 Words)

Verbs are the engine of sentences. The good news for Chinese learners is that Chinese verbs do not conjugate — there are no tenses, no agreements, no irregular forms. 去 (qù) means "go" whether you are talking about yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Context and time words handle tense. Here are the 20 most essential beginner verbs.

Usage example: 我想去饭店吃中国菜。(Wǒ xiǎng qù fàndiàn chī Zhōngguó cài.) — "I want to go to a restaurant to eat Chinese food." This sentence chains three verbs together (想, 去, 吃) — a very common Chinese sentence pattern where verbs stack sequentially.

Question Words (10 Words)

Chinese question formation is simpler than in English — you do not need to rearrange word order. Just place the question word where the answer would go. "You go where?" (你去哪里？) is how you ask "Where are you going?" These 10 question words unlock your ability to ask about anything.

Usage example: 你在哪里工作？(Nǐ zài nǎlǐ gōngzuò?) — "Where do you work?" And with the 呢 particle: 我很好，你呢？(Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?) — "I'm good, and you?" Notice how 呢 lets you bounce the same question back without repeating the whole sentence.

Time & Days (15 Words)

Since Chinese verbs do not conjugate for tense, time words do the heavy lifting. Placing 今天 (today), 明天 (tomorrow), or 昨天 (yesterday) at the beginning of a sentence tells your listener when the action happens. These 15 time words are essential for scheduling, storytelling, and daily conversation.

Usage example: 明天星期几？明天星期三。(Míngtiān xīngqī jǐ? Míngtiān xīngqīsān.) — "What day is tomorrow? Tomorrow is Wednesday." Days of the week in Chinese simply use the word 星期 followed by numbers 1-6, with Sunday being 星期天 or 星期日 — beautifully systematic.

Common Adjectives (15 Words)

Adjectives let you describe the world around you. In Chinese, adjectives often function as verbs — you can say 天气很冷 (the weather is very cold) without needing a separate "is." The word 很 (hěn, very) is typically placed before adjectives in statements, even when you do not mean to emphasize "very." Here are the 15 most useful beginner adjectives.

Places & Directions (15 Words)

Being able to name common places and give basic directions is critical for getting around. Whether you are navigating a city in China or simply talking about your daily routine, these 15 words cover the locations and spatial words you will need most as a beginner.

Usage example: 学校在医院的左边。(Xuéxiào zài yīyuàn de zuǒbiān.) — "The school is to the left of the hospital." Chinese uses a consistent pattern for locations: [place A] 在 [place B] 的 [direction]. Once you learn this pattern, you can describe any spatial relationship.

Pronunciation Tips for Beginners

Pronunciation is the single biggest challenge for English speakers learning Chinese. Getting the tones right from the beginning is crucial — if you develop bad habits early, they become very difficult to fix later. Here are the most important pronunciation tips for working through your first 200 words.

Mandarin has four tones plus a neutral tone. First tone (ā) is high and flat. Second tone (á) rises like asking "huh?" Third tone (ǎ) dips low then rises. Fourth tone (à) drops sharply like a firm command. The neutral tone is short and light. For a deep dive, see our complete tones guide.

Watch out for "x", "q", and "zh": These sounds do not exist in English. The "x" in pinyin (as in 谢谢, xièxie) is like a sharp "sh" with your tongue flat behind your lower teeth. The "q" (as in 请, qǐng) is like "ch" but with your tongue in the "x" position. The "zh" (as in 中国, Zhōngguó) is a retroflex sound with your tongue curled back.

Tone sandhi: When two third tones appear in a row, the first changes to a second tone. For example, 你好 is technically nǐ hǎo, but in natural speech the 你 sounds like ní hǎo. Similarly, 一 (yī) changes tone depending on what follows. Do not memorize all the rules at once — listen carefully and imitate native speakers.

30-Day Study Schedule: How to Learn 200 Words

Learning 200 words in 30 days requires learning about 7 new words per day while reviewing previously learned words. Here is a week-by-week plan that follows the priority order of this article. Budget 20-30 minutes per day: 10 minutes for new words, 10-20 minutes for review.

Week 1 (Days 1-7) — 50 Words: Focus on greetings, pronouns, numbers 1-10, and your first basic verbs (是, 有, 去, 来, 吃, 喝). By the end of week 1, you should be able to introduce yourself, count to 100, and say simple sentences like "I want to eat." Spend extra time on tones this week — getting the foundation right saves time later.

Week 2 (Days 8-14) — 50 Words: Add family members, food and drink vocabulary, and more verbs (想, 要, 看, 听, 说). By the end of week 2, you can describe your family, order food, and express wants and preferences. Daily review of week 1 words is critical — use spaced repetition to make sure nothing slips away.

Week 3 (Days 15-21) — 50 Words: Learn question words, time expressions, and days of the week. This is the week your Chinese transforms from one-way statements to two-way conversations. Practice constructing mini-dialogues: "What do you want to eat?" "I want to eat noodles. And you?"

Week 4 (Days 22-30) — 50 Words: Finish with adjectives, places, and directions. By day 30, all 200 words are in your active review cycle. Week 1 words should be well-established in long-term memory, while week 4 words need several more review sessions. Continue daily review for at least another 2-4 weeks to fully consolidate.

How to Use SRS for Beginner Vocabulary

Spaced repetition (SRS) is the most scientifically validated method for vocabulary memorization. The core idea is simple: review a word just before you are about to forget it. New words get reviewed daily, then every 2 days, then 4 days, then a week — with the interval growing each time you recall correctly. For beginner Chinese, SRS is particularly powerful because each word has multiple dimensions to memorize: the character, the pinyin pronunciation, and the English meaning. HSKLord's flashcard system tests all three directions to build deep, multi-directional recall.

Here is how to use SRS with these 200 words: add 7 new words each day following the category order in this article. Review all due cards every morning — this takes 10-15 minutes once your rhythm is established. If you miss a day, do not try to catch up by adding extra new words; just complete your reviews and resume adding new words the next day. Consistency beats intensity every time.

Frequently Asked Questions