Themed vocabulary library

Chinese Vocabulary by Topic

Not sure what to study next? Start with a theme. Each topic is a hand-picked list of the words you actually use — food, family, travel, feelings — with tone-colored pinyin, English meanings, HSK levels and example sentences. Every list plugs straight into HanziPress's writing, flashcard and worksheet tools.

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Pick a topic

A word can belong to more than one topic — 家 lives in Family and in Home — and every list keeps to a size you can actually learn in a sitting.

Food & Drinks食物和饮料Rice and noodles, fruit and snacks, tea and coffee — the words you need to order food and shop for groceries.72 words →Family & Relationships家庭和人际关系Mom, dad, grandparents, in-laws and friends — Chinese family words, including the older/younger distinctions English skips.50 words →Animals动物Pets, farm animals and zoo favorites — from 狗 and 猫 to 熊猫, with the words for zoo and pet.30 words →School & Classroom学校和课堂Classroom objects, subjects and study words — students, teachers, homework, exams and everything in a schoolbag.52 words →Colors, Numbers & Shapes颜色、数字和形状The first words every beginner drills: fourteen colors, the numbers from 0 to 10,000, and basic shapes.44 words →Daily Routines日常生活Get up, brush your teeth, go to work — the verbs and time words that tell the story of an ordinary day.48 words →Weather & Seasons天气和季节Sun, rain, wind and the four seasons — weather words, forecasts and what to wear, the small talk every Chinese conversation starts with.66 words →Transportation & Travel交通和旅行Trains, planes, subways and taxis — how to get around China, book a room, and find your way when you're lost.74 words →Body Parts身体部位From head to toe — the body's vocabulary plus the health words you need at a pharmacy or clinic.34 words →Home & Furniture家居和家具Rooms, furniture and appliances — the words for where you live, from the front door to the fridge.56 words →Feelings & Emotions情绪和感受Happy, tired, nervous, in love — the adjectives and verbs that say how you feel, from 高兴 to 心情.40 words →Shopping & Money购物和金钱Buy, sell, cheap, expensive — market and mall vocabulary plus the money words, down to giving change.72 words →
How it works

From word list to real practice

1 · Read the words

Every entry shows tone-colored pinyin, a plain-English meaning and one-tap audio pronunciation. Many words carry a real example sentence with a translation.

2 · Write and review

One click sends the whole topic to the stroke-order practice page, the spaced- repetition flashcard reviewer, or your My Vocabulary list — the same tools you use everywhere else on HanziPress.

3 · Take it to paper

Print the topic as tracing worksheets or cut-out flashcards. Both come from the site's regular generators, with the same tone colors and 田字格 grids as always.

Go deeper

Other ways to grow your vocabulary

HSK word lists

The official exam syllabus, level by level, with pinyin and definitions — the place to go when you want the full list, not a theme.

Textbook vocabulary

Integrated Chinese, New HSK Course and NPCR, lesson by lesson — study the words your course teaches, in course order.

Search & My Vocabulary

Look up any character or word, star it, and build a list of your own. Your stars feed the same practice, flashcard and worksheet tools.

Have your own word list?

Paste any vocabulary — from a textbook lesson, a show you're watching, your own notes — and turn it into printable flashcards with tone colors and writing grids.

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