Top 50 Chinese Characters
最常用五十个汉字
These are 50 of the most common Chinese characters, ranked by their frequency in written Chinese. They appear throughout everyday Mandarin, making them a useful starting point for Chinese learners who want to read and write Chinese by hand.
Download this list as a PDF
Two printable PDFs, both vector — sharp at any zoom and safe for a 300 DPI print. No email, no account.
- List PDF — every entry with its rank, pinyin and meaning.
- Practice sheet — One character per row: the model with its pinyin, then blank Tianzige cells to copy it into. All 50 characters. Print it and write.
- Flashcards — the same 50 characters as cut-out cards, tone-colored pinyin and stroke-order frames on the back.
50 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 |
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
Download the practice sheet: every character gets its own block with the strokes drawn one by one, then blank Tianzige cells to write it in. Handwriting is what makes a character stick.
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.
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 50 chinese characters list free to download?
Yes. Both PDFs on this page are free, need no account, and print on US Letter. The list PDF has all 50 characters; the practice sheet covers 50 characters, each with its strokes drawn in order and blank cells to write in.
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.
Other frequency lists
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.