New HSK 3 Word List (HSK 3.0): 500 New Words, 1,000 in Total

In the official 2025 HSK Syllabus, Level 3 adds 500 words to the 500 of Levels 1–2, for 1,000 words in total. The old HSK 3 needed 600.

Free PDF: HSK 3.0 writing practice (100 characters)

The numbers

	Classic HSK 3 (2.0)	New HSK 3 (3.0)
Words in total	600	1,000
New words at this level	300	500
Characters to recognise (total)	—	655
Characters to write (total)	—	250

Need the earlier levels first? See the New HSK 1 word list and the New HSK 2 word list.

26 New HSK 3 words (all verified in the Level 3 list)

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
周末	zhōumò	weekend
护照	hùzhào	passport
新鲜	xīnxiān	fresh
热情	rèqíng	warm, enthusiastic
聪明	cōngmíng	clever
搬家	bānjiā	to move house
安静	ānjìng	quiet
办公室	bàngōngshì	office
作业	zuòyè	homework
环境	huánjìng	environment
应该	yīnggāi	should
地图	dìtú	map
文化	wénhuà	culture
历史	lìshǐ	history
简单	jiǎndān	simple
害怕	hàipà	to be afraid
满意	mǎnyì	satisfied
习惯	xíguàn	habit; to be used to
照顾	zhàogù	to look after
参加	cānjiā	to take part in
着急	zháojí	anxious, in a hurry
担心	dānxīn	to worry
银行	yínháng	bank
电梯	diàntī	lift, elevator
冰箱	bīngxiāng	fridge
空调	kōngtiáo	air conditioner

A 6-week plan for the 500 new words

Week 1: review Levels 1–2 (500 words) with spaced-repetition flashcards.
Weeks 2–5: about 18 new words a day, always with audio and inside a sentence. Our HSK 3 lessons build them into scenes such as weekend plans, forgetting a passport and a new apartment.
Week 6: timed practice with the HSK 3 mock exam.

Free download: HSK 3.0 writing practice sheets

All 100 characters on the official Levels 1–2 writing list in 田字格 grids, with pinyin, English, an example word, trace and practice boxes, plus exam-style gap-fill drills with answers. Free on Gumroad (pay what you want, $0 is fine).

Get the free PDF Try a free lesson

FAQ

How many words are in New HSK 3?

1,000 in total: 500 from Levels 1–2 plus 500 new Level 3 words, according to the 2025 HSK Syllabus.

Is New HSK 3 harder than the old HSK 3?

It needs more words (1,000 vs 600) and has a handwriting list (250 characters cumulative), so plan more time for it.

Where is the official New HSK 3 list?

In the HSK Syllabus published by CLEC in November 2025 (in force from July 2026), vocabulary entries 501–1000.

Counts come from the official HSK Syllabus (CLEC, published November 2025, in force from July 2026), counted from the PDF. Exam dates are as reported by test centres and third-party guides; confirm with your test centre or chinesetest.cn. ACA Chinese is independent and not affiliated with the test organiser.