How to study HSK 4 vocabulary

Studying HSK 4 vocabulary means learning about 600 new words if you're on the old standard (HSK 2.0) or about 1,000 if you're on the new one (HSK 3.0), at a sustainable pace and reviewing them with spaced repetition so you don't forget them. Here are the real numbers, the honest day-to-day arithmetic, and a plan with no hype — where Wanyu is one tool among several, not the only one.

How many words is it really?

It depends which "HSK 4" you're facing, because two standards are in force at once and the number changes a lot. Here's the level-4 vocabulary in each system:

In other words: the old-standard HSK 4 adds 600 words to the 600 you already had, for 1,200 total; the new-standard one adds 1,000 to the previous 2,245, for 3,245. Sharing the number "4" does not make them equivalent — they're different systems that cut the language in different places. Before you decide what to study, read HSK 3.0 vs HSK 2.0: it has the full tables for both, the exam status, and why the levels don't convert "by eye."

In Wanyu, HSK 3.0 level 4 is 1,018 cards. There are more cards than words because entries with more than one reading split into one card per reading — each sound with its own pinyin and gloss. You can see them all, open and free, in the HSK 4 list.

How many words a day?

The math is simple, and worth doing before you start so you don't fool yourself. At a comfortable 10 new words a day:

• 600 words (HSK 2.0) → about 60 days of new vocabulary intake: roughly two months.
• 1,000 words (HSK 3.0) → about 100 days: a little over three months.

With the honest caveat: that's only the intake. Each new word generates reviews on the following days, so real time per session grows at first and then levels off. If some day you can't manage 10, drop to 5 and keep going — consistency matters far more than the number. And no, we won't promise you a date to pass the exam: that depends on you, on the test, and on how much you read and listen away from the cards.

In what order should you study them?

Start with what pays off most. A good practical order:

• First, what you almost know already. Mark anything you recognize at a glance as known and get it out of the way; put your effort into what's genuinely new.
• Verbs and action words before decoration. Verbs open sentences: with them you can already say things. Wanyu flags the level's star words so you can prioritize them.
• What you'll actually run into. If you read or listen to something of your own, the words that show up there take priority: they arrive with context and stick better.

You don't have to finish a whole level before touching the next. Mixing is normal and healthy.

How do you review them so they stick?

With spaced repetition: instead of re-reading lists, each word comes back right before you forget it, and the interval stretches every time you get it right. It's the only realistic way to retain a thousand words without giving your life to it. Wanyu ships it by default with FSRS, the modern open algorithm: you grade each card with a tap and it decides when the card returns. There's nothing to configure — see how it works on FSRS review. Review nearly every day: ten minutes daily beats two hours on Sunday.

What role does reading play?

A huge one. Cards get the word into your head; reading fixes it and gives it context. When you recognize a word you studied inside a real sentence, the memory anchors in a way a card alone can't manage. Wanyu's Reader lets you paste any text and tap word by word to see pinyin and gloss — and whatever interests you becomes cards. At HSK 4 you can already read simple graded texts; do it even if it's one paragraph a day.

What about grammar?

Vocabulary is the bulk of HSK 4, but it doesn't arrive alone. This level brings in structures like 把, resultative and directional complements, or the 就/才 contrast — things you don't "learn" by memorizing a card, but by seeing plenty of examples. Wanyu has the patterns explained by level in Grammar, with sample sentences. Study it alongside the vocabulary, not after: they reinforce each other.

An honest plan (Wanyu is one tool among several)

As promised: no hype. A path that works, whatever you use:

• Settle your standard. 600 or 1,000 words? Confirm which exam you'll sit first of all — the HSK 3.0 vs 2.0 guide tells you how to check.
• Settle a pace you can keep. 5–10 new words a day and daily review. Slow and steady beats a binge and quitting.
• Add reading from day one. Even a little. Isolated vocabulary evaporates; in context, it stays.
• Pick the tool you'll actually open every day. The HSK lists on this site are free and browsable with nothing to install. Anki works too, and works well, if you don't mind building the decks yourself. Wanyu saves you that build —a full HSK library with audio, colored pinyin and ES/EN glosses already done— for a one-time purchase and no cloud. We compare the two with the math on the table in Wanyu vs Anki.

Vocabulary figures counted from the HSK 2.0 data and the GF 0025-2021 standard (HSK 3.0); the level-4 card count (1,018) is Wanyu's library. The exam status changes in phases — confirm it at chinesetest.cn. Guide written in July 2026.