Most common Chinese words 1–500

(of a process etc) to proceed; to be in progress; to be underway; (of people) to carry out; to conduct (an investigation or discussion etc); (of an army etc) to be on the march; to advance

世界shìjiè

world

日本Rìběn

Japan

该gāi

should; ought to; probably; must be; to deserve; to owe; to be sb's turn to do sth; that; the above-mentioned

其qí

his; her; its; their; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it)

不能bùnéng

cannot; must not; should not

向xiàng

towards; to face; to turn towards; direction; to support; to side with; shortly before; formerly; always; all along; …

计划jìhuà

plan; project; program; to plan; to map out

只zhǐ

only; merely; just

认为rènwéi

to believe; to think; to consider; to feel

前qián

front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; …

成为chéngwéi

to become; to turn into

时间shíjiān

(concept of) time; (duration of) time; (point in) time

需要xūyào

to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs

出chū

to go out; to come out; to arise; to occur; to produce; to yield; to go beyond; to exceed; (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result); classifier for dramas, plays, operas etc

已yǐ

already; (bound form) to stop; to cease; to end; (literary) thereafter; afterward; (literary) too; excessively

国际guójì

international

地区dìqū

region; area (informal or geographical term); prefecture (in China's administrative system)

时候shíhou

time; length of time; moment; period

再zài

again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time; (before an adjective) more; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也 (yě) or 都 (dōu) for emphasis); (used to introduce additional information, as in 再则 (zàizé), 再就是 (zàijiùshì) etc); (literary) to reappear; to reoccur

小xiǎo

small; tiny; few; young

们men

plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals

却què

but; yet; however; while; to go back; to decline; to retreat; nevertheless; even though

内nèi

inside; inner; internal; within; interior

使用shǐyòng

to use; to employ; to apply; to make use of

才cái

ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) really; actually; (variant of 才 (cái)) just now; (variant of 才 (cái)) (before an expression of quantity) only

经济jīngjì

economy; economic

活动huódòng

to exercise; to move about; to work out; shaky; unsteady; loose (tooth etc); movable; flexible; liquid (capital etc); (volcanic, seismic, economic etc) activity; (outdoor etc) activity; event; (political) campaign; (military) maneuver (CL:项 (xiàng)); to use personal influence, connections, bribes etc

爱ài

to love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)

但是dànshì

but; however

应该yīnggāi

ought to; should; must

历史lìshǐ

history

第dì

(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 (dìliù) "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high official; (literary) but; however; (literary) only; just

谁shéi

who; also pr. shuí

政治zhèngzhì

politics; political

不会bùhuì

improbable; unlikely; will not (act, happen etc); not able; not having learned to do sth; (coll.) (Tw) don't mention it; not at all

以及yǐjí

and; as well as

Conjunction

情况qíngkuàng

circumstances; state of affairs; situation

真的zhēnde

really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine; (math.) proper

组织zǔzhī

to organize; organization; (biology) tissue; (textiles) weave

人民rénmín

the people

其他qítā

other; (sth or sb) else; the rest

发生fāshēng

to happen; to occur; to take place; to arise (e.g. 发生问题 (fāshēngwèntí) "a problem arises")

主要zhǔyào

main; principal; major; primary

网站wǎngzhàn

website

香港Xiānggǎng

Hong Kong, special administrative region (SAR) of the PRC (short name 港 (Gǎng))

地方dìfang

place; location; area; space; territory; aspect; part

当dāng

(onom.) dong; ding dong (bell); to be; to act as; manage; withstand; when; during; ought; should; …

生活shēnghuó

to live; life; livelihood

这种zhèzhǒng

this kind of

你们nǐmen

you (plural)

通过tōngguò

to pass through; to get through; to adopt (a resolution); to pass (legislation); to pass (a test); by means of; through; via

啊a

modal particle ending sentence, showing affirmation, approval, or consent

Particle

事shì

matter; thing; item; work; affair

同时tóngshí

at the same time; simultaneously

必须bìxū

must; to have to

快kuài

rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon; almost; to make haste; clever; sharp (of knives or wits); forthright; …

为了wèile

for; for the purpose of; in order to

所以suǒyǐ

therefore; as a result; so; the reason why

所有suǒyǒu

all; to have; to possess; to own

跟gēn

heel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns)

Conjunction

比bǐ

to compare; (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun}; ratio; to gesture; (Taiwan pr. bì in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese)

包括bāokuò

to comprise; to include; to involve; to incorporate; to consist of

发现fāxiàn

to notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect; a discovery

请qǐng

to ask; to invite; please (do sth); to treat (to a meal etc); to request

还有háiyǒu

there still remain(s); there is (or are) still; in addition

一些yīxiē

some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er

全国quánguó

whole nation; nationwide; countrywide; national

出现chūxiàn

to appear; to arise; to emerge; to show up

如何rúhé

how; what way; what

决定juédìng

to decide; to determine; to make up one's mind; decision (CL:个 (gè),项 (xiàng))

为什么wèishénme

why?; for what reason?

还是háishi

still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or

Conjunction

呢ne

(sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation still holds; (discourse particle) used to mark a slight pause or emphasis in speech

Particle

一样yīyàng

same; like; equal to; the same as; just like

企业qǐyè

company; firm; enterprise; corporation

其中qízhōng

among; in; included among these

北京Běijīng

Beijing municipality, capital of the People's Republic of China (short name 京 (Jīng))

觉得juéde

to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc)

重要zhòngyào

important; significant; major

高gāo

high; tall; above average; loud; your (honorific)

影响yǐngxiǎng

influence; effect; to influence; to affect (usually adversely); to disturb

则zé

(literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm; (bound form) principle; (literary) to imitate; to follow; classifier for written items

喜欢xǐhuan

to like; to be fond of; to be happy; to be pleased; to tend to

文化wénhuà

culture; civilization; cultural

长cháng

long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong point; forte; (bound form) to be good at; (literary) surplus; spare (Taiwan pr. zhàng)

起来qǐlai

to stand up; to get up; also pr. qi3lái

不过bùguò

only; merely; no more than; but; however; anyway (to get back to a previous topic); cannot be more (after adjectival)

作为zuòwéi

one's conduct; deed; activity; accomplishment; achievement; to act as; as (in the capacity of); qua; to view as; to look upon (sth as); …