HSK 4: what the level covers and what it asks of you
能就广泛话题较流利地交流，满足大学生活与日常工作需要。
This page describes HSK 4as it is recorded in HSK Guide’s curriculum data, part of the HSK 1–4（旧版） ladder. Vocabulary, grammar and reading below are the material HSK Guide actually holds for this level — not a copy of any examination paper.
词汇库
Vocabulary on the HSK 4 list
HSK Guide currently holds 150 published 词 labelled HSK 4. Every entry links to its full dictionary page with audio, examples and character breakdown.
- 对于對於duìyú (fourth tone, falling)
引出说话或讨论的对象
- 情况情況qíngkuàng (second tone, rising)
事情在某个时候的样子、发展的状态
- 社会社會shèhuì (fourth tone, falling)
人们一起生活、互相有关系的大群体
- 发生發生fāshēng (first tone, high and level)
（事情）出现，产生
- 计划計劃jìhuà (fourth tone, falling)
事先想好要做的事情，还有怎么做
- 发展發展fāzhǎn (first tone, high and level)
（事物）由小变大、由弱变强，越来越好
- 交通jiāotōng (first tone, high and level)
车、船、飞机等来来往往，还有和它们有关的道路、规定
- 成为成為chéngwéi (second tone, rising)
变成（某种身份或情况）
- 支持zhīchí (first tone, high and level)
同意并帮助某人或某种做法，给予力量或帮助
- 完全wánquán (second tone, rising)
一点儿也不少，全部都是
- 活动活動huódòng (second tone, rising)
有目的地组织起来的事情，如比赛、聚会
- 不过不過búguò (second tone, rising)
表示轻微的转折，比"但是"更随意
- 建议建議jiànyì (fourth tone, falling)
说出自己的想法，希望别人考虑或采纳
- 网络網絡wǎngluò (third tone, dipping)
电脑和电脑连接起来的系统，也指互联网
- 能力nénglì (second tone, rising)
能够做好一件事情的本事
- 目的mùdì (fourth tone, falling)
想要达到的结果，做事情的原因
- 任何rènhé (fourth tone, falling)
指所有的，不管是哪一个，多用在否定句或强调句中
- 合适合適héshì (second tone, rising)
正好符合需要，不大也不小、不早也不晚
- 安全ānquán (first tone, high and level)
没有危险，不会出事
- 方法fāngfǎ (first tone, high and level)
做事情所用的方式
- 由于由於yóuyú (second tone, rising)
表示原因，比"因为"更正式
- 结果結果jiéguǒ (second tone, rising)
事情发展到最后得到的情况
- 联系聯繫liánxì (second tone, rising)
用打电话、写信等方法跟别人取得联络
- 进行進行jìnxíng (fourth tone, falling)
正在做某件比较正式的事情
Showing 24 of 150.
How level labels work. A word belongs to a level through a separate membership record, one per standard, each carrying its own source. HSK Guide never merges the lists of two standards or renumbers one into the other — see how the inventories are kept apart.
语法库
Grammar patterns at HSK 4
Each pattern carries its structure formula, a plain-language explanation, sentences that are wrong and why, and a contrast with what it is usually confused with.
- Talking about the future: 会, 要 and 将表示将来的“会／要／将”
主语 + 会 + 动词（+ 的）→ 预测 ｜ 主语 + 要 + 动词（+ 了）→ 打算、即将 ｜ 主语 + 将（要）+ 动词 → 书面语
Chinese has no future tense. 会 predicts what is likely, 要 announces a plan or something imminent, and 将 is the written-register marker.
modality - 把 with 在, 到, 给 and 成: putting things somewhere“把”字句的结果补语：把 + 宾语 + 动词 + 在／到／给／成
主语 + 把 + 宾语 + 动词 + 在／到 + 处所 ｜ + 给 + 接受者 ｜ + 成 + 结果
Four complements make 把 obligatory rather than optional: 在 and 到 for where a thing ends up, 给 for who receives it, 成 for what it becomes.
disposal - Choosing between 把 and 被“把”字句与“被”字句的对比
施事 + 把 + 受事 + 动词 + 其他 ⇄ 受事 + 被 + （施事）+ 动词 + 其他
Two camera angles on one event. The noun after 把 is the thing affected; the noun after 被 is the doer.
voice - The 被 passive“被”字句
受事主语 + 被 + （施事）+ 动词 + 其他成分（了／补语）
被 puts the affected thing first and says what happened to it. The doer may be named after 被 or left out, but the verb can never stand bare.
voice - How long and how many times: 了 + duration, V 了三次时量补语和动量补语
动词 + 了 + 时段（+ 了） ｜ 动词 + 了 + 数词 + 次／遍／下 ｜ 动词 + 了 + 时段／次数 + （的）+ 宾语
A length of time or a number of times goes *after* the verb, not before it. With an object, either slot the measure in front of the object or repeat the verb.
complements - Even: 连…都／也…“连……都／也……”
（主语）+ 连 + 名词／动词 + 都／也 + 谓语 ｜ 连 + 一 + 量词 + 名词 + 都／也 + 不／没 + 动词
连 picks out the most surprising case and says that even that one is included. 都 or 也 must follow it — the pattern is never used with 连 alone.
emphasis - Whatever the case: 无论／不管…都…“无论／不管……都……”
无论／不管 + 疑问词／A还是B／多 + 形容词，（主语）+ 都／也 + …
The first clause must stay open — a question word, an A-or-B choice, or 多 + adjective — and the second must carry 都 or 也. The outcome does not change either way.
concession - Enough versus indispensable: 只要…就… and 只有…才…“只要……就……”和“只有……才……”
只要 + 条件，（主语）+ 就 + 结果（充分条件） ｜ 只有 + 条件，（主语）+ 才 + 结果（必要条件）
只要…就… says the condition is all it takes. 只有…才… says nothing else will do. The pairings are fixed: 只要 with 就, 只有 with 才.
condition
分级读物
Reading written for HSK 4
精选文本，保证你开始读之前就已经认识其中大部分词语。
- 为钱的事儿
An Argument About Money
Eight hundred yuan lent two months ago, a plane ticket that has to be paid for, and two friends who each remember the conversation differently. It gets tense — “why are you only telling me now?” — before David works out that buying lunch twice does not add up to eight hundred, and they agree on half now, half on payday, and writing it down next time. Twenty-four turns inside HSK 1–4.
阅读 4 分钟money - 搬进宿舍
Moving Into the Dormitory
Amine arrives at room 305 with two suitcases and a list of questions. The dormitory supervisor hands him two keys and answers them one by one: air conditioning yes, laundry on the ground floor, wi-fi password behind the door, no cooking in the rooms, doors locked at half past eleven. The last piece of news is the best — his roommate is Chinese. Twenty turns within HSK 1–4.
阅读 4 分钟university - 去公司应聘
A Job Interview
A month after graduating, Amine sits down with a manager who has read his file. Four years of Chinese, four languages, two years of interpreting for a travel company; then the harder questions — his best quality, his worst, overtime, business trips — and finally the salary, the timetable for a decision and a word of reassurance. Twenty-four turns inside HSK 1–4.
阅读 5 分钟work - 城市新闻：地铁三号线昨天开始使用
City News: Metro Line 3 Opened Yesterday
A city-desk report on the metro line that opened at six yesterday morning: eighteen stations, twenty-six kilometres, an hour by bus cut to thirty minutes. A driver who has spent ten years stuck in traffic on that road, a teacher whose pupils used to take two buses, and a resident of thirty years who is not sure a busier neighbourhood is good news. Twenty-four sentences inside HSK 1–4.
阅读 6 分钟city life - 我为什么开始学汉语
Why I Started Learning Chinese
Amine answers the question he is asked most often. It began with a Chinese shopkeeper on an old street in Casablanca who made him repeat a few words at a time, went on through a film he understood not one line of, and survived the years when the characters would not stay in his head. The last scene returns to the shop. Twenty-five sentences inside HSK 1–4.
阅读 6 分钟language learning
模拟考试
Practice examinations available at HSK 4
HSK Guide 自行编写的限时练习。题量、时间和评分都是我们自己的练习设定，并非官方试卷——每次作答结束后都会给出差距分析。
这是 HSK Guide 自行编写的非官方练习材料，不是真题，也未获得任何考试机构认可。
小时
How long this level takes
The curriculum record for HSK 4 states a cumulative estimate of 440 study hours from a standing start. The table converts that into calendar time at three daily budgets.
| Daily study | Per week | Time to HSK 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 20 分钟 | 2 小时 | ~4 years |
| 45 分钟 | 5 小时 | ~84 周 |
| 90 分钟 | 11 小时 | ~42 周 |
An estimate, not a promise. It assumes you study on most days, that you are starting from no Chinese at all, and that review time is included. Learners with a background in another Chinese variety, or with characters already in place, routinely move faster. The placement test replaces this table with an estimate based on what you actually recall.
常见问题
How many words does HSK 4 cover?
HSK Guide's curriculum record for HSK 4 states a cumulative target of 1,200 words, taken from Official HSK examination information — every word up to and including this level, of which 600 are new at HSK 4. This figure has been transcribed but not yet verified by an editor against the primary document, and HSK Guide labels it as such wherever it appears. HSK Guide currently holds 150 published entries labelled HSK 4, which are the words tagged at this level, so the figure to read them against is 600 rather than 1,200.
Is HSK 4 part of the same ladder as the other HSK levels?
HSK 4 belongs to the HSK 1–4（旧版） track. HSK Guide keeps each standard's vocabulary, grammar and level labels in a separate inventory, so a level number in one ladder is never treated as equivalent to the same number in another.
Can I practise HSK 4 for free?
Yes. At HSK 4 that means the 150-word HSK 4 list published on HSK Guide, the 8 grammar points filed under this level and the 5 graded texts on this page, all readable without signing in. The dictionary, the character explorer and the radical library are open without an account, and a daily allowance of reviews, quizzes and tutor messages is included on the free plan; Pro removes the daily limits and unlocks the full mock examinations.
How long does it take to reach HSK 4?
The curriculum record states a cumulative estimate of 440 study hours from no Chinese at all — roughly 84 weeks at 45 minutes a day. It is an estimate rather than a promise, and the placement test replaces it with one based on what you actually recall.
Does HSK Guide have a HSK 4 practice test?
Yes — one practice examination is published at this level. Every item is original material written for HSK Guide. It is not a past paper and is not endorsed by any examination authority.
Is HSK Guide affiliated with the HSK 4 examination?
No. HSK Guide is an independent preparation platform and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Chinese Testing International or the official HSK examination authorities. Registration, scoring and the current level requirements are decided by the examination authority — confirm them with your own test centre.