100 most common Chinese characters

July 17, 2018August 24, 2019 nhutly 2 Comments

Have you ever wondered what the most common Chinese characters are? In a language of approximately 20,000 words, mastering the most crucial characters will benefit you on your path to language greatness. Whether you’re a newbie ready to begin reading and writing in Chinese, or a seasoned student brushing up on your basics, learners of all levels benefit from reviewing the most essential Chinese characters.

The following list of 100 most common Chinese characters is based on data from classical and modern Chinese writings collected by linguist Jun Da.

的	de	<grammatical particle marking genitive as well as simple and composed adjectives>
一	yī	one, a little
是	shì	to be
不	bù	not
了	le	verb particle marking a new situation or a completed action
人	rén	person
我	wǒ	I, me, my
在	zài	at, located at
有	yǒu	have, there is
他	tā	he, him, his
这	zhè	this
中	zhōng	middle, in
大	dà	big
来	lái	come
上	shàng	above, on, over, top, (go) up, last, previous
国	guó	country, state, nation, <family name>
个	gè	<general and non-specific classifier> (ex. 个人 \| gèrén \| personal)
到	dào	to, towards, until, arrive, reach
说	shuō	explain, scold, refer to, (=说话 shuōhuà) speak, say
们	men	<pluralizing suffix for pronouns and nouns referring to persons> (ex. 我们 \| wǒmen \| we)
为	wèi	for, for the sake of, in order to, in this connection
子	zǐ	child, son
和	hé	together, with
你	nǐ	you, your (Alternative feminine form: 妳 nǐ)
地	dì	earth, ground, soil, place, position, distance
出	chū	go out, come out, in direction out from something, emit, issue, prouce
道	dào	way, path, channel, way, say, a streak (of light), doctrine, <classifier for rivers, topics, etc.>
也	yě	also, as well
时	shí	period, season
年	nián	year
得	de	<adverbial particle: verb + 得 + descripion> (ex. 走得快 \| zǒude kuài \| walk quickly)
就	jiù	just, simply, right away 就要 jiùyào about to (do something)
那	nà	that
要	yào	want, will, shall, need, important, essential
下	xià	below, under, (go) down, next (as opposed to previous/last)
以	yǐ	use, take, according to, because of, in order to
生	shēng	give birth, life
会	huì	can, able, meet, meeting, society, union, party
自	zì	from, since
着	zhe	verb particle marking a continuing progress/state
去	qù	go, leave, depart
之	zhī	subordinator similar to 的 de
过	guò	pass, cross, go by, exceed, <verb particle marking that someone has had the experience of doing something, that it has happened at least once>
家	jiā	home, house, family
学	xué	study, learn
对	duì	correct, answer, treat, agree, mutual, pair
可	kě	~able, (=可以 kěyǐ) may, can
她	tā	she, her
里	lǐ	neighbourhood, half kilometer, <family name>
后	hòu	queen
小	xiǎo	small
么	me/mo	(interrogative suffix) 什么? \| shénme? \| What?
心	xīn	heart
多	duō	many, much, more
天	tiān	sky, heaven, god, day
而	ér	and, furthermore
能	néng	can, be able
好	hǎo	good, good to…, easy to…
都	dōu	all
然	rán	right, correct, so, like that
没	méi	(=没有 méiyǒu) haven’t, there isn’t
日	rì	sun
于	yú	in, at, for, to, from, by, than
起	qǐ	rise, start
还	hái	still, yet
发	fā	deliver, utter, express, shoot, emit, develop, expand
成	chéng	(=成为 chéngwéi, =变成 biànchéng) become, <family name>; 成功 chénggōng succeed; 完成 wánchéng accomplish, complete, fulfill; 成语 chéngyǔ idiom
事	shì	matter, affair, thing, event, accident, job, responsibility
只	zhǐ	only, just, merely
作	zuò	do, make
当	dāng	serve as
想	xiǎng	think, feel, consider, want, remember
看	kàn	see, look at, read, think, consider
文	wén	language, literature
无	wú	without, nothingness, have not
开	kāi	open
手	shǒu	hand, a person skilled in something
十	shí	ten
用	yòng	use
主	zhǔ	lord, master, host, god,
行	xíng	go, OK
方	fāng	side, square
又	yòu	again, both… and…
如	rú	like, as, as if
前	qián	in front, previous, ago, former, first
所	suǒ	place
本	běn	basis, origin, edition classifier for books, periodicals, files, etc.
见	jiàn	appear to be, meet with, call on
经	jīng	longitude (both geographic and in Chinese medecin), scripture, constant, regular, <family name>, deal with
头	tóu	head, top, first
面	miàn	face, surface, <classifier for mirrors, flags, etc.>
公	gōng	public, official
同	tóng	same, with
三	sān	three
已	yǐ	stop, cease, end
老	lǎo	old, venerable, outdated
从	cóng	from, through, join, follower, secondary
动	dòng	move, change, arouse
两	liǎng	two (before classifier), 50 grams
长	cháng	long, lasting, length