Chinese 4 Vocabulary
US college course · often numbered Chinese 202 / CHIN 202
The fourth semester is the steepest jump for most learners: passages get longer, register starts to matter, and graded writing expects paragraph-level organisation rather than single sentences.
At a glance
Typically maps to HSK 4 — 300 characters and 819 words in that band. See the full HSK 4 list →
What Chinese 4 usually covers
- ·Longer narratives and paragraph-level reading
- ·Structures that change emphasis (把 / 被 constructions)
- ·Formal vs colloquial register
- ·Abstract topics: society, study, work and plans
- ·Summarising and giving reasons in writing
- ·News-style and short non-fiction reading
Characters at this level (300)
阿āprefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms etc to indicate familiarity矮ǎi(of a person) short案àn(legal) case暗àndark巴bāBa, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan)摆bǎito arrange败bàito defeat伴bànpartner; companion; comrade; associate薄bóthin宝bǎojewel抱bàoto hold贝bèicowrie倍bèi(two, three etc) -fold笨bènstupid毕bìthe whole of闭bìto close避bìto avoid编biānto weave辩biànto dispute冰bīngice兵bīngsoldiers擦cāto rub; to scratch财cáimoney操cāoto grasp
Showing 24 of 300 — view all HSK 4 characters and words.
Words at this level (819)
地方dìfangregion出口chūkǒuan exit阿姨āyímaternal aunt矮小ǎixiǎoshort and small爱国àiguóto love one's country爱护àihùto cherish安置ānzhìto find a place for按时ànshíon time暗示ànshìto hint; to suggest巴士bāshìbus (loanword)百货bǎihuògeneral merchandise摆动bǎidòngto sway摆脱bǎituōto break away from办事bànshìto handle (affairs)包裹bāoguǒto wrap up包含bāohánto contain包括bāokuòto comprise宝宝bǎobaodarling; baby宝贝bǎobèitreasured object宝贵bǎoguìvaluable宝石bǎoshíprecious stone; gem保密bǎomìto keep sth confidential保守bǎoshǒuconservative背景bèijǐngbackground; backdrop; context
Showing 24 of 819 — view the full HSK 4 list.
How to use HanTrace alongside your course
- ✓Move from single words to word families: check polyphone readings when a character you know shows up with a new sound.
- ✓Track level progress per HSK band to see which block is actually weak before an exam.
- ✓Use the notebook tags to separate 'recognition only' from 'must produce' — the two need different review loads.
- ✓Reading is the bottleneck at this level; look up new words immediately and let them enter the review schedule rather than skipping past them.
Course numbering, pace and textbook choice vary by school, and HSK has no official mapping to college courses — treat the level above as a rough guide and check your own syllabus for what is examinable.