Top 1000 Chinese Characters · page 1 of 2

最常用一千个汉字

The 1000 most common Chinese characters, ranked by their frequency in written Chinese. Around a thousand characters is the threshold where the large majority of running text in modern Chinese is within reach — beyond it, an unknown character has usually become an event rather than a habit. Work down the list in frequency order and every page you read afterwards pays you back for a character learned here.

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The full list

1,000 most common Chinese characters, in frequency order

Every character links to its own page with stroke order, pinyin and example words.

#	Character	Pinyin	Meaning
1	的	de	[structural particle used after an attribute]
2	一	yī	one, a, an
3	是	shì	be
4	了	le	[aspect marker indicating realisation of a situation]
5	不	bù	no, not
6	在	zài	[indicating location or time, etc.] at, in
7	人	rén	person, human, man
8	有	yǒu	have, there be
9	我	wǒ	I, me
10	这	zhè	this
11	个	gè	[generalised measure word used for nouns without a specific measure term]
12	他	tā	he, him
13	大	dà	big, large
14	上	shàng	up, on, in
15	来	lái	[preceding a verb to indicate the intended or suggested action]
16	要	yào	want; order
17	们	men	[plural marker for pronouns and some animate nouns]
18	说	shuō	say, speak, tell
19	到	dào	go to, reach, arrive
20	就	jiù	[used for emphasis] just; then; at once
21	为	wèi	[introducing purpose, reason, beneficiary, etc.] for, because of
22	会	huì	can, know how to do
23	地	dì	[structural particle introducing an adverbial modifier]
24	和	hé	and
25	以	yǐ	by means of, with, in (some way); according to; because of
26	出	chū	out; produce; happen
27	对	duì	for, to, with regard to
28	时	shí	time when …
29	家	jiā	[measure word for families or businesses]
30	也	yě	also
31	你	nǐ	you
32	生	shēng	give birth to, bear; become (rusty, ill, etc.); light (a fire)
33	中	zhōng	in, within
34	得	dé	[structural particle used after a verb that introduces a complement showing…
35	多	duō	many, much, plentiful
36	子	zǐ	son, child
37	后	hòu	behind; after, later
38	那	nà	that
39	过	guò	[aspect marker indicating experience]
40	自	zì	from
41	好	hǎo	good, well
42	能	néng	can
43	么	me	[interrogative particle]
44	可	kě	but, yet
45	下	xià	under, below
46	年	nián	year
47	发	fā	send out, give out, distribute
48	学	xué	learn, study
49	还	hái	still, yet
50	都	dōu	all
51	事	shì	matter, thing
52	去	qù	go
53	成	chéng	become, turn into; succeed
54	天	tiān	[measure word for time] day
55	着	zhe	[aspect marker indicating a durative or ongoing situation]
56	方	fāng	side, party; square; direction
57	现	xiàn	now
58	面	miàn	face, surface; side; (wheat) flour
59	作	zuò	do
60	里	lǐ	in, inside
61	没	méi	not
62	经	jīng	through, by means of; by way of, via
63	国	guó	country, nation
64	看	kàn	look, view; look after
65	开	kāi	open; operate, drive (car), turn on (light); start (business)
66	行	xíng	trip; behaviour
67	小	xiǎo	small, little
68	于	yú	[indicating time, location, direction, etc.] in, at
69	当	dāng	just at (time or place)
70	心	xīn	heart; mind; core, centre
71	而	ér	and, yet
72	之	zhī	[archaic equivalent of structural particle 的]
73	用	yòng	use
74	同	tóng	[indicating relationship, involvement, comparison] with
75	种	zhǒng	[indicating species] kind, type
76	道	dào	[measure word for long and narrow objects, doors, orders, questions, dishes…
77	然	rán	correct; right; so; thus; like this; -ly
78	前	qián	before; in front of
79	问	wèn	ask
80	实	shí	solid, firm; true, real, actual
81	所	suǒ	[particle preceding a verb to form a nominal structure]
82	点	diǎn	[measure word for point, item, etc.]; [measure word for small quantities]
83	长	cháng	long
84	动	dòng	move; arouse; change; use
85	想	xiǎng	think
86	些	xiē	some, an amount of
87	起	qǐ	get up, rise; up
88	从	cóng	from
89	样	yàng	[measure word for some material objects] type, sort
90	两	liǎng	two
91	进	jìn	enter; advance
92	她	tā	she, her
93	分	fēn	divide, separate, differentiate; distribute
94	很	hěn	very
95	理	lǐ	reason; natural science (in relation to humanities)
96	主	zhǔ	main, primary, principal
97	定	dìng	set, fix, decide; subscribe to (newspapers and periodicals, etc.)
98	工	gōng	work, labour; industry; project
99	意	yì	meaning, idea; intention, desire
100	把	bǎ	[ba-structure preposing the object]
101	情	qíng	feeling, passion, sentiment; condition, situation
102	如	rú	like, as, as if; such as
103	正	zhèng	just, precisely; just (in progress)
104	全	quán	whole, entire, complete
105	最	zuì	[superlative degree] most
106	但	dàn	but
107	儿	ér	[nonsyllabic suffix for retroflection, especially in the Beijing dialect]
108	外	wài	outside
109	高	gāo	tall, high
110	什	shén	what
111	间	jiān	[measure word for rooms]
112	力	lì	power, strength
113	明	míng	bright, light, clear; open, overt, explicit
114	本	běn	(one’s) own; this, current
115	法	fǎ	law; method, way, how-to
116	话	huà	word, talk, utterance
117	者	zhě	[suffix for nouns denoting persons] -ist, -er
118	部	bù	[measure word for machines and vehicles, etc.]
119	女	nǚ	female, woman
120	等	děng	et cetera
121	业	yè	trade, line of business; profession, occupation; estate, property; undertaking
122	老	lǎo	old, veteran
123	已	yǐ	already
124	重	zhòng	heavy
125	公	gōng	public; official business; father-in-law
126	其	qí	[third person singular or plural] his, her, its, their; that, such
127	因	yīn	because of, as a result of, according to
128	文	wén	script, language; essay, writing
129	知	zhī	know
130	给	gěi	to
131	与	yǔ	[indicating involvement or relationship] with
132	己	jǐ	self
133	次	cì	[measure word indicating number of repetitions or count of actions or events]…
134	关	guān	close, shut; turn off; concern, involve; shut in, lock up; (business) close down
135	只	zhī	only
136	民	mín	the people; civilian
137	三	sān	three
138	又	yòu	again, once again
139	头	tóu	head; end
140	比	bǐ	[used for comparison] than
141	手	shǒu	hand
142	别	bié	[negative imperative] don’t, had better not
143	第	dì	[numeral prefix forming ordinal numbers]
144	回	huí	return; reply; decline (invitation)
145	活	huó	live, survive
146	体	tǐ	body; style; system
147	位	wèi	[measure word for respectable people]
148	做	zuò	do, make
149	水	shuǐ	water
150	无	wú	have no, there be no
151	化	huà	[verb suffix] -ise, -ify
152	打	dǎ	beat, hit, strike; play; typewrite
153	代	dài	generation; historical period, dynasty
154	机	jī	machine
155	表	biǎo	watch; form, table
156	电	diàn	electricity, power; telegram, cable
157	题	tí	title; topic, subject; problem (in exam)
158	相	xiāng	each other
159	见	jiàn	see, meet
160	先	xiān	first, earlier
161	名	míng	[measure word for persons in general]
162	果	guǒ	fruit
163	几	jǐ	several; how much
164	性	xìng	property, disposition; sex
165	将	jiāng	[indicating a future happening] will, be going to
166	常	cháng	often, usually
167	被	bèi	[passive marker]
168	新	xīn	new
169	少	shǎo	few, rare
170	应	yìng	ought to, should; answer, respond, echo; comply with
171	场	chǎng	[measure word for processes or courses of occurrence such as rain, snow…
172	真	zhēn	really
173	军	jūn	army
174	向	xiàng	[indicating direction] to, towards
175	才	cái	just
176	身	shēn	body
177	合	hé	shut; suit, agree; combine; add up to
178	目	mù	eye; list
179	此	cǐ	this
180	认	rèn	recognise; admit; resign oneself to
181	总	zǒng	always; anyway, certainly; sooner or later
182	再	zài	again
183	干	gān	work, do (a job)
184	结	jié	form; settle; tie, knit, knot; bear (fruit)
185	口	kǒu	[measure word for people in a family or village, and also for pigs, etc.]
186	解	jiě	untie, undo; explain, solve
187	产	chǎn	produce, yield; reproduce
188	世	shì	the world; lifetime; era, age
189	平	píng	flat, level, even; calm; average, common
190	完	wán	finish, be over; (use) up
191	书	shū	book
192	感	gǎn	feel
193	二	èr	two
194	放	fàng	put, place; let go, let off; lay aside; show, play (movies, etc.)
195	加	jiā	add, increase; put in
196	门	mén	door, gate
197	员	yuán	(bound form) person engaged in a certain field of activity; (bound for…
198	政	zhèng	government, politics
199	气	qì	air; breath; gas
200	信	xìn	letter, mail
201	走	zǒu	walk; leave
202	今	jīn	today, now
203	更	gèng	[comparative degree] more
204	并	bìng	and, besides
205	教	jiào	teach
206	内	nèi	inside, within
207	系	xì	(academic) department; system, series
208	记	jì	keep in mind, memorise, remember; take note, write down
209	反	fǎn	oppose, combat; reverse; turn against
210	它	tā	[used for non-human things] it
211	使	shǐ	[often used in serial verb constructions] make, cause, enable
212	入	rù	enter
213	车	chē	car, vehicle; cart
214	提	tí	carry; put forward, raise; mention, ask; lift; promote
215	接	jiē	put together, join; receive, answer (call, letter, etc.)
216	通	tōng	open up by poking; understand, know; connect, communicate; lead to
217	由	yóu	by, from
218	度	dù	[measure word for temperature, angle, electricity, etc.] degree; kwh
219	任	rèn	appoint, occupy or take up a post; give free rein to
220	社	shè	society, club; agency
221	受	shòu	receive; be subject to, suffer; endure, bear
222	让	ràng	give way; let, make; allow
223	思	sī	think
224	立	lì	stand; erect, set up; establish
225	难	nán	difficult
226	特	tè	special, unusual
227	西	xī	west
228	原	yuán	former, original
229	处	chù	place; department
230	日	rì	day; the sun
231	管	guǎn	manage, run, administer; take care (of), care about
232	制	zhì	make, manufacture
233	物	wù	thing
234	边	biān	side; edge
235	各	gè	each
236	报	bào	newspaper
237	展	zhǎn	exhibition, display
238	市	shì	city, town; market
239	路	lù	road; distance
240	该	gāi	this, that, the mentioned
241	听	tīng	listen
242	变	biàn	change
243	界	jiè	the circle or world of
244	战	zhàn	fight
245	队	duì	team; queue
246	办	bàn	do
247	候	hòu	to wait; to inquire after; to watch; season; climate; (old) period of…
248	交	jiāo	hand in, submit, deliver
249	觉	jué	feel; become aware
250	件	jiàn	[measure word for clothes, furniture, affairs, etc.] item, article
251	直	zhí	straight, directly; keep (doing something), continuously
252	条	tiáo	[measure word for things of a long and thin shape (e.g. string and river)…
253	四	sì	four
254	期	qī	[measure word for things arranged by periods] issue (of a periodical)
255	论	lùn	discuss, talk about, expound; decide on
256	怎	zěn	how, why
257	像	xiàng	look like, resemble; look as if
258	带	dài	carry, bring, take
259	品	pǐn	taste, sample
260	快	kuài	fast, quick
261	太	tài	too, excessively; very
262	呢	ne	[particle used at the end of a question or declarative sentence to indicate…
263	利	lì	advantage; benefit, profit, gain
264	风	fēng	wind
265	量	liáng	quantity, amount, capacity
266	非	fēi	non-
267	月	yuè	moon; month
268	十	shí	ten
269	资	zī	money, capital, investment; endowment; qualifications
270	东	dōng	east
271	每	měi	each
272	建	jiàn	establish; construct, build
273	保	bǎo	protect, defend; guarantee; preserve, maintain; bail
274	决	jué	decide; (of a dam or dyke) burst
275	往	wǎng	towards
276	神	shén	god
277	至	zhì	arrive, reach
278	住	zhù	live, stay
279	强	qiáng	strong, powerful, better
280	命	mìng	life; fate, destiny; order
281	告	gào	tell, make known; sue
282	流	liú	flow
283	司	sī	department (in a ministry); firm, company
284	清	qīng	clear
285	指	zhǐ	mean, refer to; point to
286	区	qū	area, district
287	师	shī	teacher; person with a particular professional skill; division
288	美	měi	beautiful, pretty
289	数	shù	several
290	声	shēng	sound, noise; voice
291	望	wàng	have a look; hope
292	亲	qīn	close, intimate
293	爱	ài	love, like
294	求	qiú	beg, request, strike for, seek
295	义	yì	meaning, sense; justice, righteousness
296	始	shǐ	begin, start
297	传	chuán	pass on, spread; hand down
298	谈	tán	talk
299	术	shù	way, practice; (surgical) operation
300	孩	hái	(bound form) child
301	改	gǎi	change, revise, modify
302	领	lǐng	lead
303	金	jīn	gold, golden; metal; money
304	吃	chī	eat
305	形	xíng	shape, form
306	叫	jiào	name, call; shout; order (somebody to do something); order (meal, taxi, etc.)
307	安	ān	calm, at ease
308	友	yǒu	friend
309	视	shì	look; regard (… as)
310	象	xiàng	elephant; image, shape
311	观	guān	watch, look at
312	识	shí	know
313	讲	jiǎng	speak, tell
314	何	hé	what, how, when, where, why
315	色	sè	colour; countenance, look; type; female charm
316	程	chéng	rule; order; regulations; formula; journey; procedure; sequence
317	院	yuàn	courtyard; academy, institute, hospital
318	收	shōu	receive, collect; accept
319	及	jí	and
320	近	jìn	near
321	或	huò	or
322	影	yǐng	shadow, reflected image; trace; film
323	百	bǎi	hundred
324	服	fú	take (medicine); be convinced, obey
325	式	shì	type, style
326	许	xǔ	allow
327	字	zì	(Chinese) character
328	光	guāng	light, brightness; glory, honour
329	统	tǒng	to gather; to unite; to unify; whole
330	深	shēn	deep
331	计	jì	count, calculate, number; haggle over
332	吗	ma	[question tag]
333	单	dān	single, solitary; odd
334	跟	gēn	[indicating relationship, involvement, or comparison] with
335	白	bái	white
336	吧	ba	[modal particle indicating a suggestion or request; marking a question…
337	治	zhì	rule, govern; treat, cure; control, harness; punish
338	整	zhěng	whole, entire
339	死	sǐ	die
340	花	huā	spend
341	商	shāng	discuss, consult
342	算	suàn	calculate; regard as
343	步	bù	pace; step
344	眼	yǎn	eye
345	必	bì	must, certainly
346	导	dǎo	to transmit; to lead; to guide; to conduct; to direct
347	调	tiáo	transfer, shift; adjust, turn; harmonise
348	钱	qián	money
349	际	jì	border; edge; boundary; interval; between; inter-; to meet; time; occa…
350	务	wù	affair; business; matter; to be engaged in; to attend to; by all means
351	五	wǔ	five
352	万	wàn	10,000
353	持	chí	hold, maintain
354	张	zhāng	[measure word for flat objects and things with a flat surface, and also…
355	容	róng	hold, contain; tolerate; allow, permit
356	越	yuè	[as in 越…越] (the more … ) the more
357	准	zhǔn	allow, permit
358	城	chéng	town, city; city wall
359	团	tuán	something with a round shape, ball, wad; group; regiment
360	根	gēn	[measure word for long and slender objects]
361	包	bāo	pack, wrap; assure, guarantee; undertake the whole thing; hire
362	历	lì	—
363	满	mǎn	full
364	运	yùn	transport
365	造	zào	make, build; make up
366	空	kōng	empty, hollow; blank; vacant
367	元	yuán	[Chinese currency unit] yuan
368	写	xiě	write
369	转	zhuǎn	change, shift; pass on; rotate, resolve; turn
370	找	zhǎo	look for
371	男	nán	male, man
372	取	qǔ	get, take, fetch
373	精	jīng	clever, shrewd; refined; exquisite; adept, skilled
374	究	jiū	after all; to investigate; to study carefully; Taiwan pr.
375	山	shān	mountain, hill
376	言	yán	speech, word
377	啊	a	[modal particle showing affirmation, approval, or consent]
378	且	qiě	(both … ) and; even, furthermore
379	科	kē	branch of study; division, section
380	片	piàn	[measure word for flat and thin pieces] slice
381	济	jì	used in place names associated with the Ji River 济水; surname Ji
382	半	bàn	half
383	远	yuǎn	far
384	便	biàn	[similar to 就] soon afterwards, just
385	考	kǎo	take an examination, test or quiz, test
386	失	shī	lose
387	况	kuàng	moreover; situation
388	组	zǔ	group; set
389	连	lián	[as in 连…都(也）…] even
390	基	jī	base, foundation
391	早	zǎo	early
392	确	què	indeed, really
393	级	jí	[measure word for levels, grades and ranks, etc.]
394	请	qǐng	please (do something); ask (somebody to do something); invite
395	设	shè	set up, establish
396	海	hǎi	sea
397	乐	lè	happy, joyful
398	议	yì	to comment on; to discuss; to suggest
399	火	huǒ	fire
400	争	zhēng	contend for, vie for; argue
401	照	zhào	shine, beam, light up; reflect, mirror
402	病	bìng	illness, ailment
403	离	lí	leave, be away
404	类	lèi	[measure word for a class of similar persons or things] category, kind, sort
405	极	jí	extremely
406	断	duàn	break
407	达	dá	attain, reach; amount to
408	较	jiào	[preceding an adjective or adverb to form a comparison] relatively
409	热	rè	hot
410	首	shǒu	head
411	规	guī	—
412	集	jí	gather, collect; centre on
413	校	xiào	school
414	众	zhòng	numerous
415	球	qiú	ball
416	节	jié	festival, holiday; section, division; node, joint; critical juncture
417	专	zhuān	specially, specifically
418	共	gòng	all together
419	权	quán	power, authority; right
420	却	què	but
421	兴	xīng	prevail, be in fashion; promote; permit, allow
422	研	yán	to grind; study; research
423	据	jù	according to
424	房	fáng	room
425	选	xuǎn	choose
426	台	tái	[measure word for machines, and also performances, etc.]
427	史	shǐ	history
428	切	qiè	cut, carve
429	农	nóng	agriculture, farming
430	备	bèi	get ready; prepare against; be available, be equipped with
431	格	gé	used in 格登; used in 格格
432	功	gōng	merit, achievement; skill
433	千	qiān	1,000
434	质	zhì	quality; substance
435	客	kè	guest; customer
436	落	luò	fall, drop; lower; fall behind
437	哪	nǎ	what, which, where, how
438	价	jià	price
439	响	xiǎng	loud; noisy
440	则	zé	[indicating cause, condition, contrast, etc.] then
441	念	niàn	read aloud; think of, miss; attend school
442	参	cān	used in 参差
443	段	duàn	section, part; length (of time or distance); paragraph
444	育	yù	give birth; raise, keep; educate
445	欢	huān	—
446	证	zhèng	certificate, papers; proof, evidence
447	党	dǎng	(political) party
448	示	shì	show
449	士	shì	member of the senior ministerial class (old); scholar (old); bachelor…
450	企	qǐ	(bound form) to stand on tiptoe and look; to anticipate; to look forwa…
451	易	yì	easy
452	需	xū	need, require
453	随	suí	along with
454	标	biāo	mark; sign; label; to mark with a symbol, label, lettering etc; to bea…
455	习	xí	(bound form) to practice; to study; habit; custom
456	消	xiāo	disappear, cause to disappear
457	息	xī	(bank) interest; breath; news
458	装	zhuāng	pack, load; fix, install; pretend; play the role of
459	举	jǔ	lift, raise; enumerate, give (an example)
460	医	yī	medical science, medicine; doctor, physician
461	底	dǐ	bottom, base; end (of month or year); draft copy, duplicate copy for file
462	注	zhù	annotate; pour, inject; concentrate
463	轻	qīng	light
464	青	qīng	blue, green, cyan
465	谁	shuí	who
466	呀	ya	[sentence final particle]
467	支	zhī	[measure word used for long and inflexible objects such as pens, arrows…
468	晚	wǎn	late
469	官	guān	official, officer
470	具	jù	possess, have
471	演	yǎn	perform, play, show
472	府	fǔ	seat of government; government repository (archive); official residenc…
473	土	tǔ	earth, soil
474	紧	jǐn	tight
475	态	tài	form, appearance; state
476	够	gòu	enough, sufficient
477	妈	mā	ma, mum
478	突	tū	to dash; to move forward quickly; to bulge; to protrude; to break thro…
479	局	jú	bureau, office; state of affairs
480	线	xiàn	line; thread
481	技	jì	skill
482	八	bā	eight
483	费	fèi	expend; consume too much, be wasteful
484	号	hào	[measure word for workmen]; kind, sort
485	刚	gāng	just, barely; just now
486	推	tuī	push
487	即	jí	is; that is
488	笑	xiào	laugh, smile
489	存	cún	exist; deposit; accumulate; check (luggage), leave something with someone
490	引	yǐn	cause, make; guide, lead; quote, cite
491	喜	xǐ	happy, delighted, joyful
492	留	liú	remain, stay; reserve, save for future use; leave behind
493	势	shì	power, influence; momentum, tendency; situation
494	马	mǎ	horse
495	双	shuāng	double; even (as opposed to odd)
496	复	fù	again
497	足	zú	enough, adequate, sufficient
498	严	yán	strict, stern; (air- or water-) tight
499	终	zhōng	finally
500	站	zhàn	stand

How to use it

Studying from a frequency list

1. Work front to back

The order is the whole point. Twenty new characters from the top of this list are worth more than a hundred from the bottom, because you will meet them far more often.

2. Write them, don't just read them

Handwriting is what makes a character stick. Paste whatever you are working on into the generator — it draws each character stroke by stroke and leaves blank Tianzige cells to write in.

3. Open the entry pages

Every character links to its own page with the stroke order animated, all its readings, and common words built from it — the fastest way to turn a ranked row into something you remember.

4. Read past the list

Use the generator to turn any Chinese text into a worksheet, then check the characters you meet against this ranking.

Frequently asked

Questions about this list

How many Chinese characters do I need to know?

Around 1,000 characters covers the large majority of running text in modern Chinese, and 2,000–3,000 is comfortable adult reading level. This list is in frequency order, so the earlier entries are the ones you will meet most often.

Is the top 1000 chinese characters list free to download?

Yes — the full list is free to download as a printable PDF, with no account. There is no practice sheet for a list this long (it would run to about 167 pages), so the practice button opens the worksheet generator in Words mode instead; paste any text there and it builds Tianzige grids with pinyin and stroke order.

What order is the list in?

Strict frequency order, taken from a corpus-derived frequency dictionary of Mandarin Chinese. Rank 1 is the most frequent entry in the corpus, not the easiest or the first one a textbook introduces.

Should I learn characters in frequency order or by HSK level?

If you are following a course, stay with the course and use this list to see which of your characters matter most. If you are self-studying, frequency order is the faster route to reading real text, because it front-loads the characters that appear on every page. Each character's own page shows its HSK level alongside the stroke order and common words.

More lists

Other frequency lists

Top 50 Chinese Characters50 characters · free PDF Top 100 Chinese Characters100 characters · free PDF Top 200 Chinese Characters200 characters · free PDF Top 500 Chinese Characters500 characters · free PDF Top 50 Chinese Words50 words · free PDF Top 100 Chinese Words100 words · free PDF Top 200 Chinese Words200 words · free PDF Top 500 Chinese Words500 words · free PDF Top 1000 Chinese Words1,000 words · free PDF Top 2000 Chinese Words2,000 words · free PDF

Turn any Chinese text into a worksheet

Paste a lesson, a poem or a news paragraph and print it as Tianzige practice grids with tone-marked pinyin and stroke-order breakdowns — free vector PDF.

Open the worksheet generator All frequency lists