The most common Chinese characters in order of frequency

1 1/124 The most common Chinese characters in order of frequency All characters are presented in falling statistical order with the most commonly used characters first (ie from 1 to 3000). Alternative forms of characters are specified within parentheses in which case "F" marks full (or traditional) forms, "S" marks simplified (or modern) forms and "A" marks alternative forms (mostly special numerals). Pronunciation is specified according to Pinyin and written within brackets "[..]". After each given pronunciation, a number of possible translations are listed. If a character corresponds closely to a somewhat longer word (usually a word that contains the character in question), the longer word is given in the list of translations marked with parentheses and a "=".

2 After the translation of each character , example words containing the character are often listed these words are separated by semi commas. No guarantee is given that all the most common words are listed or that the given examples are very common . Some of the listed pronunciations are less used than others, and in those cases translations and examples may lack. Grammatical particles, classifiers and other special translations are marked with hooks "<..>". Curly brackets "{..}" are mostly used when giving references to characters that are similar to the listed ones either in shape. This is to help you avoid miswriting/misreading. The same marking is also used for references to characters with similar meaning but different pronunciation. Additional information of other sorts is sometimes given. If the characters are not displayed correctly, verify that the encoding is set to GB2312. Les 3000 caract res chinois les plus fr quents (S: Simplified (Simplifi ), F: Full (Traditionnel), A: Alternative (Variante)) N Caract re Prononciation et explications 1 [de] <grammatical particle marking genitive as well as simple and composed adjectives>; w de my; g ode high, tall; sh de that's it, that's right.

3 Sh ..de one ; . T sh shu H ny de. He is one who speaks Chinese . [d ] m d goal [d ] true, real; d qu certainly 2 (A )[y ] one, a little; d -y first, primary; k ny k n have a (quick) look at [y ] (used before tones #4 and #5); y ge r n one person; y d ng certain; y y ng same; y yu January [y ] (used before tones #1, #2 and #3); y di nr a little; y xi some {Compare with (T ) y o, which also means "one"} 3 [sh ] to be, ? sh bush ? is (it) or is (it) not?; sh f u whether or not, is (it) or is (it) not? 4 [b ] not [b ] (used before tone #4); b sh isn't 5 [le] <verb particle marking a new situation or a completed action>; ! N l ile! You have come! ! W l ile! I've gotten 2/124 tired! ! N h ole! That's OK (now)! . W zh q ngle y w i k ren. I invited only one guest. [li o] end, finish, settle, dispose of, know clearly, to be able, (= li oji ) understand, comprehend; li olia clearly understand, settle (a debt/etc.)

4 , to be intelligent; li ole to be over/ended/finnish/settled; ! N m i b li o! You will not be able to sell (it)! [li o] (= lia ) to survey/watch {Compare with z child} 6 [r n] person; r nl i humankind; ? y u r n ma? Is there anybody here? {Compare with r enter} 7 [w ] I, me, my; w men we, us {Compare with zh o seek} 8 [z i] at; xi nz i now; c nz i exist 9 [y u] have, there is; m iy u haven't, there isn't; ? Y um iy u? Is there or isn't there? Have (you) or haven't (you)?; y ude some [y u] (= y u) again, 10 [t ] he, him, his, (she, her, it, its), (= q t ) other [tu ] (in classical texts) someone else, something else 11 (F )[zh ] this; zh r here [zh i] this (before classifier) 12 [zh ng] middle, in; Zh nggu China [zh ng] hit (a target) 13 [d ] big; ? du d ? how large?; d xi o size; d ji everybody [d i] d ifu doctor {Compare with t i very and m tree} 14 (F )[l i] come; yu nl i originally, as a matter of fact; l ini n coming/next year(s) [lai] (when used as a verb complement); q lai get up 15 [sh ng] above, on, over, top, (go) up, last, previous [sh ng] sh ngsh ng 3rd tone in Mandarin [shang] (when used as a verb complement) {Compare with xi under} 16 (F )[gu ] (= gu ji ) country, state, nation, <family name>; Zh nggu China; M igu USA 17 (F , )[g ] <general and non-specific classifier>; g r n personal; g r nzh y personal homepage [g ] z g oneself 3/124 18 [d o] to, towards, until, arrive, reach 19 (F )[shu ] explain, scold, refer to, (= shu hu ) speak, say; y ushu persuade [shu ] try to persuade.

5 Y ushu lobbying 20 (F )[men] (pluralizing suffix for pronouns and human nouns); w men we; r nmen people 21 (F )[w i] for, for the sake of, in order to, in this connection [w i] do, act, act as, be, become; r nw i think or believe ; y w i think or believe erroneously {Compare with b n do} 22 [z ] child, son; z n sons and daughters; rzi son [zi] (noun suffix); zhu zi table {Compare with le <particle>} 23 [h ] together, with, (F ) harmony, gentle, mild, kind, <family name>; h p ng peace [H ] Japan [huo] nu nhuo nice and warm [h ] join in singing, compose a poem in reply [hu ] mix with water [hu ] mix, blend [h ] complete a set in Mahjong 24 [n ] (Alternative feminine form: n ) you, your; n men you (plural) 25 [d ] earth, ground, soil, place, position, distance; d zh the Twelve Terrestrial Branches [de] <adverbial particle: descripion + + verb>, ~ly; ku ide z u walk quickly 26 [ch ] go out, come out, in direction out from something, emit, issue, prouce; ch xi n appear, emerge, (F ) <classifier for operas and plays> 27 [d o] way, path, channel, way, say, a streak (of light), doctrine, <classifier for rivers, topics, etc.

6 >, (= D oji o) Taoism; zh dao know [d o] (= d o) lead; = l ngd o leader 28 [y ] also, as well; y x perhaps 29 (F )[sh ] period, season, (= sh ji n, = sh hou) time, (= xi osh ) hour 30 [ni n] year, <family name>; j nni n this year; m ngni n next year; q ni n last year; zh ngni n middle age 31 [de] <adverbial particle: verb + + descripion>; z ude ku i walk quickly [d ] get, reach, achieve [d i] should 4/124 32 [ji ] just, simply, right away; ji y o about to (do something); ! Zh ji sh w ! This is simply me!; . T ji y o q . He is about to leave. 33 [n ] that [n i] that (before classifier) [nu ] ch nnu deep meditation [nu ] w nu helpless, unfortunately [n ] (= n ) what? [n i] (= n i before classifier) which? 34 [y o] want, will, shall, need, important, essential; zh y o main, fundamental [y o] y oqi demand 35 [xi ] below, under, (go) down, next (as opposed to previous/last) {Compare with sh ng above} 36 [y ] use, take, according to, because of, in order to; k y OK, may; su y so, therefore, as a result; y w i beyond, except 37 [sh ng] give birth, life; xi nsheng mister, gentleman, Sir 38 (F )[hu ] can, able, meet, meeting, society, union, party [ku i] ku ij accounting [hu ] hu r moment 39 [z ] from, since, (= z j ) self.

7 Z r n nature {Compare with m eye and b i white} 40 (F )[zhe] <verb particle marking a continuing progress/state> [zh o] touch [zhu ] wear clothes, dress, touch [zh o] put in, add, (F ) make move in chess, trick, decieve 41 [q ] go, leave, depart (opposite of l i) 42 [zh ] <subordinator similar to de>, it (in classical texts) 43 (F )[gu ] pass, cross, go by, exceed, <verb particle marking that someone has had the experience of doing something, that it has happened at least once>; gu m l cross the street; . w q guo Zh nggu li ng c . I have gone to China twice. 44 [ji ] home, house, family; gu ji nation; d ji everybody [jie] zh ngti njie all day long; ji l (at) home, (in the) family 5/124 45 (F )[xu ] study, learn; xu xi o school; xu sheng student {Compare with z written character } 46 (F )[du ] correct, answer, treat, agree, mutual, pair; du buq excuse me 47 [k ] ~able, (= k y ) may, can, (= k sh ) but, however; k ' i loveable, cute; k 'n ng possible, probable, maybe; k k uk l Coca Cola [k ] k h n khan 48 [t ] she, her 49 [l ] neighbourhood, half kilometer, <family name>, (F , ) in, inside, lining; ?

8 N li? where?; n li there; zh li here 50 [h u] queen, (F ) after, behind, <family name>; h uti n the day after tomorrow 51 [xi o] small; d xi o size 52 [me/mo] (F , ) (interrogative suffix) ? sh nme? what?; ? w ish nme? why? ! m i sh nme! It doesn't matter!, Never mind!; ? z nme? how? [y o] (S ) youngest, one ( in bus/house/phone numbers) 53 [x n] heart; xi ox n be careful; x nl psychology, mentality; zh ngx n center 54 [du ] many, much, more; du d how large?; du sh o how many/much? 55 [ti n] sky, heaven, god, day, (= ti nk ng) sky; ti nq weather { ti ng n the Ten Heavenly Stems: ji -y -b ng-d ng-w -j -g ng-x n-r n-gu (these characters are sometimes used as ordinal numbers} {Compare with f man and w without} 56 [ r] (= rqi ) and, furthermore, (= r n' r) yet, even so 57 [n ng] can, be able; n ngg u be capable of; k 'n ng maybe 58 [h o] good, good , easy ; ! N h o! Hello! [h o] to like [h o] h oh or in perfectly good condition 59 [d u] all [d ] (= sh ud ) capital city 60 [r n] right, correct, so, like that; su r n although; h r n suddenly; d ngr n of course; z r n nature 61 (F )[m i] (= m iy u) haven't, there isn't; ?)

9 Y um iy u? Is there or isn't there? Have (you) or haven't (you)? 6/124 [m ] sink, overflow, disappear, confiscate 62 [r ] sun, (= r zi) day; r j diary; r gu ng sunlight {Compare with yu say, m eye and g n sweet} 63 [y ] <family name>, (F ) in, at, for, to, from, by, than {Compare with qi n thousand and g n stem} 64 [q ] rise, start; q lai get up; du buq excuse me [qi] (when used as a verb complement) 65 (F )[h i] still, yet [hu n] return, give back 66 [f ] (F ) deliver, utter, express, shoot, emit, develop, expand [f ] (F ) hair [fa] (F ) t ufa hair 67 [ch ng] (= ch ngw i, = bi nch ng) become, <family name>; ch ngg ng succeed; w nch ng accomplish, complete, fulfill; ch ngy idiom 68 [sh ] matter, affair, thing, event, accident, job, responsibility; sh qing situation 69 (F )[zh ] only, just, merely, <classifier implying "one of a pair", animals, vessels, utensils, etc.>; y zh m o a cat [zh ] (F ) single, one, only {Compare with xi ng brother} 70 [zu ] do, make; g ngzu work; zu y homework [zu ] zu jian spoil, waste, humiliate, insult [zu ] do 71 [d ng] (F ) serve as, (F ) ding-dong [d ng] (F ) proper, right, equal, (= d ngzu ) treat as, regard as 72 [xi ng] think, feel, consider, want, remember 73 [k n] see, look at, read, think, consider [k n] look after, tend; k nsh u guard 74 [w n] language, literature, <family name>; w nhu culture; Zh ngw n Chinese (written) language 75 (F )[w ] without, nothingness, have not [m ] n nm <Sanskrit> to give oneself totally to {Compare with ti n heaven} 76 (F )[k i] open.

10 K ish begin d k i open, unfold 7/124 [kai] (when used as a verb complement) {Compare with b ng combine} 77 [sh u] hand, a person skilled in something; hu sh u wave; p ish u clap; w sh u shake/clasp hands {Compare with m o hair} 78 (A )[sh ] ten; sh s n thirteen; w sh fifty; sh yu October 79 [y ng] use; h oy ng useful; b y ng there's no need; sh y ng use, apply {Compare with shu i swing} 80 [zh ] lord, master, host, god, (= zh y o) main, primary; zh y doctrine, ~ism; zh y homepage {Compare with w ng king} 81 [x ng] go, OK; x ngd ng action, operation, move, get about, act [h ng] line; y nh ng bank; h ngy profession [h ng] sh h ngzi rows of trees [h ng] (phonetic radical) 82 [f ng] side, square; d fang place; f ngmi n aspect {Compare with w n ten thousand} 83 [y u] again, 84 [r ] like, as, as if, (= r gu ) if; r c like this 85 [qi n] in front, previous, ago, former, first; the day before yesterday 86 [su ] place; su y so, therefore; su y u all; c su toilet 87 [b n] basis, origin, edition, <classifier for books, periodicals, files, etc.