Top 200 Chinese Characters

最常用两百个汉字

The 200 most common Chinese characters take you past the grammatical core of written Chinese and into its everyday vocabulary. Ranked by frequency, this is the threshold where signs, messages and simple articles begin to read as sentences rather than guesses — and where many Chinese learners first feel real progress in Mandarin.

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The full list

200 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 effect]
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); hold (meeting, party, etc.); (water) boil; write (cheque); (flower) blossom
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 in a meal, and steps in a process, etc.]
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.]; [measure word for books and films, 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] times
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, illness, etc.] period, spell; [measure word for recreational or sports activities] show, match
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.]; [measure word for tool or instrument with an edge such as a sword]; [measure word for the amount held in mouth] mouthful
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

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 200 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 33 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 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

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