Exam Overview
HSK 4 vocabulary and grammar, organized from the official HSK 3.0 outline.
Part-of-Speech Legend
HSK 4 Vocabulary
All 1000 words (serial #1001–#2000) with pinyin, meaning, and part of speech.
| # | Hanzi | Pinyin | Meaning | Type | Example Sentence |
|---|
HSK 4 Grammar Outline
Word classes, phrases, sentence patterns, and complex sentence types covered at Level 4.
How a Chinese Sentence Is Built
The verb is the skeleton
Every Chinese sentence is organized around its main verb. Before analyzing or building a sentence, find the verb first — everything else (subject, time, place, adverbs, object) is positioned relative to it.
The subject comes first
The doer of the action opens the sentence. The only thing that can come before the subject is a time expression that frames the whole sentence (e.g. 昨天，他去了学校 — "yesterday" can lead).
Time before place, both before the verb
Time (昨天) comes before place (在学校), and both come before the verb (学习). This order is rigid in Chinese — unlike English, where time/place phrases can trail at the end of a sentence.
Adverbs sit directly before the verb
也/都/已经/还/才/就/只 and similar adverbs always come immediately before the verb they modify — never after it.
Special structures override the default order
把 and 被 sentences reshape the standard S+V+O pattern: 把 → Subject + 把 + Object + Verb + Result; 被 → Subject + 被 + Agent + Verb + Result. Recognizing these patterns is more useful than trying to force every sentence into plain SVO.
Measure word + noun form one unit
A measure word never appears on its own — it always attaches directly to the noun (or verb, for action-measure words) it counts. Read and build them as a single inseparable chunk.
Building the sentence piece by piece: 他 / 已经 / 把材料 / 整理好了
他已经把材料整理好了。
Subject (他) → adverb before the verb (已经) → 把-structure (把材料) → verb + result complement (整理好了). The same layering logic — subject, then modifiers, then the verb group, then what comes after it — applies whether you're reading a sentence, listening to one, or writing one from scratch.
Exam Tips by Section
Practical, question-type-specific strategies for every part of the HSK 4 exam — 听力 (Listening), 阅读 (Reading), and 写作 (Writing).
听力 · Listening (Q1–32)
32 questions · ~20 min audioPreview the 4 options first
Before the audio starts, scan all four options. This tells you the likely topic (a place, a feeling, a reason) and gives your ears something specific to listen for.
Weight the second speaker's line
The correct answer is usually confirmed, corrected, or added to by the second speaker — not just restated from the first line.
Watch for reversal words
不、没、别、其实、不过、倒是、可是 can flip the meaning of a sentence. These words create the most common wrong-answer traps.
Be suspicious of verbatim matches
If a written option repeats a word straight from the audio, it's often a distractor. The correct option is frequently a paraphrase (同义替换) of what was said.
Split your attention across paired questions
When two questions share one recording, preview both option sets before listening, and mentally assign each to a different detail (e.g. "满意的方面" vs. "房子的问题") so you're not caught tracking only one thread.
Track the 5 W's while listening
Who, what, when, where, why. Monologues (news-style or story-style) often ask about one specific buried detail, not the main idea.
Endings often carry the payoff
Short-story monologues (like the 苏洵 example) usually reveal the outcome in the final sentence — stay focused through the very last line.
Listen for opinion markers
觉得、认为、建议、希望、应该 signal the speaker's stance — questions asking "关于……下列哪项正确" or "他的观点" usually hinge on these words.
Never leave a blank
You cannot re-listen, so if you miss a detail, eliminate 1–2 clearly wrong options from general context and guess — then move on immediately. Don't let one missed question cost you the next one too.
阅读 · Reading (Q33–64)
32 questions · 30 minIdentify the required part of speech first
Look at the blank's position: right before 一下/一杯 needs a verb; right before 的 usually needs an adjective or noun. This alone eliminates half the word bank.
Recognize fixed collocations
打扰一下、倒一杯、符合规定 — many blanks test a word's ONE natural partner. If you know the collocation, you don't need to think about meaning at all.
In dialogue blanks, read both lines
The answer for 38–42 is often confirmed by the OTHER speaker's reply. In the 倒一杯 example, B's reply "喝不了凉的" confirms A offered something to drink — pointing to 倒 (pour), not another verb.
Match the missing logical piece, not just a word
放不下那么大的洗衣机 needs a word about size/space (地方) — think about what logically completes the idea before scanning the option list.
For paragraph-ordering sets, find the intro sentence first
In sets like the 范仲淹 story (51–55), one sentence always introduces the person/background (no pronouns pointing backward) — that's your starting point. Then follow pronoun chains (他/这/那) to link the rest in order.
Use connector words as sequencing clues
于是、后来、可是、过了几天 signal "this sentence comes next." Circle these words first — they do most of the ordering work for you.
Read the question before the passage
For 51–57, glance at the question and options first, then scan the passage for the matching phrase — rather than reading every word of the passage first.
Read the whole passage once before filling anything
The blanks depend on each other — grabbing the overall gist first (topic + structure) makes each individual blank much faster to place.
Match connector logic at the sentence boundary
An option starting with 而且、不光、这些 must smoothly continue the idea right before it — check that the connector word fits the relationship between the two sentences.
Watch for parallel structure
If the passage sets up "不光有……" before a blank, the missing sentence likely completes a parallel pattern (e.g. "不光有'休息区'…" pairs with a matching "也有/还有" idea).
Solve all 3 blanks together, not one at a time
Each option usually only fits grammatically/logically in ONE blank. Cross off an option once used — process of elimination across the full set is faster than solving each blank in isolation.
写作 · Writing (Q65–70)
6 questions · 25 minSimple and correct beats ambitious and flawed
Grading rewards grammatical accuracy over complexity. A short, clean Subject + Verb + Object sentence scores better than a long sentence with an error.
Build around the given word's part of speech
Verb given (结账) → Subject + 结账 + extra detail. Noun given (羽毛球) → pair it with its natural verb (打羽毛球).
Let the picture supply the who/where
The image usually sets the scene — a cashier, a sports court, a birthday. Use it to give your sentence a concrete subject or setting instead of a vague, generic one.
Run a 3-second grammar check before moving on
Subject + verb + object present? Measure words correct? Time/place before the verb, in the right order (时间 + 地点 + 动词)? Fix these before the next question.
Plan a 3-part shape before writing
Opening (state the topic) → 1–2 body sentences (a detail or example) → closing (a short reflection). This structure naturally reaches 80+ characters without padding.
Use grammar you're sure of, not grammar you're impressed by
A couple of well-formed complex sentences (即使……也……, 不仅……还……) score higher than several ambitious ones with mistakes.
Recycle the prompt's own vocabulary
If the topic mentions 难忘 or 旅行, reuse those words rather than reaching for less familiar vocabulary you might misspell or use incorrectly.
Finish your last sentence cleanly
80 characters is roughly 6–8 short sentences. Don't stop mid-thought right at the minimum — round off the final sentence properly, even if it goes slightly over.
Save the last 2 minutes to proofread
Check for a missing 了/的/地, mismatched measure words, and accidentally repeated characters — small fixes here are the cheapest points on the whole test.
HSK 4 Sample Exam
Official specimen questions for HSK 4, based on the 2025–12 released "新版 HSK（1–6 级）考试结构与样题示例" (new-format HSK structure & sample questions), effective from July 2026.
新版 HSK（四级）考试结构
| 题型 | 题数（个） | 时长（分钟） |
|---|---|---|
| 听力 第一部分 | 14 | 32 |
| 听力 第二部分 | 18 | |
| 阅读 第一部分 | 10 | 32 |
| 阅读 第二部分 | 15 | |
| 阅读 第三部分 | 7 | |
| 写作 第一部分 | 5 | 6 |
| 写作 第二部分 | 1 | |
| 总计 | 70 | 约 85 分钟（含填写个人信息及答题卡时间） |
新版 HSK（四级）听力样题
Full recording covering all listening sample dialogues below. Use the timestamps in the player to jump to a specific example.
第一部分
1–14 题第二部分
15–32 题阅读样题
第一部分
33–42 题第二部分
43–57 题第三部分
58–64 题写作样题
第一部分
65–69 题