HSK 2 Character List: Complete Guide with Radical Analysis
125 new characters that build on your HSK 1 foundation -- with radicals, frequency data, and structural study strategies
HSK 2 introduces 125 new characters, bringing your cumulative total to 371 characters (246 from HSK 1 plus 125 new ones). This is where character learning starts to feel different -- you'll begin seeing familiar radicals and components in new combinations, and the structural patterns that seemed abstract at HSK 1 become genuinely useful.
The characters at this level cover more concrete vocabulary: body parts (眼, 足, 身), movement verbs (走, 跑, 跳), colors (红, 黑, 绿), and everyday objects (门, 楼, 酒). You'll also encounter more compound-ready characters -- characters that combine with HSK 1 characters to form common words.
Key Radical Patterns at HSK 2
HSK 2 introduces several radicals that become increasingly important at higher levels. The 辶 (walk/movement) radical appears in 6 characters including 过 (to pass), 进 (to enter), 远 (far), 近 (near), 运 (transport), and 送 (to send). This is a radical worth learning well -- it shows up in dozens of characters across all HSK levels.
The 足 (foot) radical also makes a strong appearance with 6 characters: 足 itself, plus 跟 (to follow), 跑 (to run), 跳 (to jump), 踢 (to kick), and 路 (road). Notice how all of these relate to feet or movement -- that's the radical system working as designed.
Other important radicals at this level include 纟 (silk/thread) in characters like 红 (red), 绿 (green), 绍 (to introduce), 累 (tired), and 颜 (color); and 忄 (heart) in emotional characters like 情 (feeling), 快 (fast/happy), 慢 (slow), and 懂 (to understand). For a comprehensive radical reference, see our complete guide to Chinese radicals.
Study Tips for HSK 2
- Connect new characters to HSK 1 characters -- many HSK 2 characters share components with ones you already know. 睛 (eyeball) contains 目 (eye) from HSK 1. 跑 (to run) uses 足 (foot) which you learn at this level. These connections make memorization faster.
- Study character pairs -- HSK 2 is where two-character words become more common. Learn 左 (left) and 右 (right) together. Learn 笑 (laugh) alongside 哭 (cry, HSK 3). Study 快 (fast) and 慢 (slow) as a pair. Contrasting pairs stick in memory better than isolated characters.
- Pay attention to radical meanings -- at HSK 2, the radical system becomes more transparent. Characters with 忄 (heart) relate to emotions. Characters with 辶 relate to movement. Characters with 氵 (water) relate to liquids. Use this to your advantage.
- Review HSK 1 characters regularly -- don't let your foundation erode while learning new material. A good SRS system handles this automatically by scheduling older characters for periodic review.
- Practice reading short passages -- with 371 cumulative characters, you can start reading simplified graded readers and children's stories. Reading in context is the best way to consolidate what you've learned.
Common Character Groups in HSK 2
HSK 2 characters form several natural study groups:
- Movement verbs: 走 (walk), 跑 (run), 跳 (jump), 踢 (kick), 游 (swim), 进 (enter), 送 (send), 运 (transport) -- many share the 足 or 辶 radical
- Colors: 红 (red), 黑 (black), 绿 (green), 颜 (color) -- plus 色 (color) for forming compound color words
- Body parts: 眼 (eye), 睛 (eyeball), 身 (body), 足 (foot), 头 (head) -- building on HSK 1's 手 and 口
- Emotions/states: 情 (feeling), 快 (happy/fast), 慢 (slow), 忘 (forget), 懂 (understand), 笑 (laugh)
- Places: 门 (door), 路 (road), 楼 (building), 店 (shop), 馆 (hall), 室 (room)
- Sports: 球 (ball), 篮 (basket), 泳 (swim), 舞 (dance) -- vocabulary for hobbies and activities
- Family: 妻 (wife), 夫 (husband), 爷 (grandpa), 姓 (surname) -- extending HSK 1's family vocabulary
Complete HSK 2 Character Table
All 125 HSK 2 characters, sorted by frequency rank. These are the characters added at HSK 2 -- for HSK 1 characters, see the HSK 1 character list.
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Radical | Strokes | Freq. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as | 丶 | 4 | 18 |
| 地 | dì | earth, ground | 土 | 6 | 21 |
| 就 | jiù | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; | 尢 | 12 | 27 |
| 着 | zhe | -ing, to wear | 目 | 12 | 41 |
| 自 | zì | (bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally | 自 | 6 | 43 |
| 过 | guò | to pass, past | 辶 | 6 | 46 |
| 所 | suǒ | actually; place; classifier for houses, small buil | 户 | 8 | 54 |
| 然 | rán | nature, thus | 灬 | 12 | 55 |
| 经 | jīng | pass through,经典 | 纟 | 8 | 62 |
| 动 | dòng | (of sth) to move; to set in movement; to displace | 力 | 6 | 73 |
| 进 | jìn | to enter | 辶 | 7 | 81 |
| 但 | dàn | but | 亻 | 7 | 95 |
| 因 | yīn | cause; reason; because | 囗 | 6 | 96 |
| 从 | cóng | from; through; via; (bound form) to follow; (bound | 亻 | 4 | 98 |
| 意 | yì | meaning, idea | 心 | 13 | 104 |
| 长 | cháng | long; (bound form) length; (bound form) strong poi | 长 | 4 | 109 |
| 已 | yǐ | already; to stop; then | 己 | 3 | 117 |
| 情 | qíng | feeling, emotion | 忄 | 11 | 120 |
| 最 | zuì | (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degre | 冂 | 12 | 139 |
| 头 | tóu | head; hair style; the top | 大 | 5 | 147 |
| 体 | tǐ | body; form; style; system; substance; to experienc | 亻 | 7 | 149 |
| 等 | děng | to wait for; to await; by the time; when; till; an | 竹 | 12 | 158 |
| 己 | jǐ | self; oneself; sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干 | 己 | 3 | 162 |
| 身 | shēn | body; life; oneself | 身 | 7 | 164 |
| 表 | biǎo | exterior surface; family relationship via females; | 衤 | 7 | 177 |
| 位 | wèi | position, measure word | 亻 | 7 | 182 |
| 次 | cì | next in sequence; second; the second (day, time et | 欠 | 6 | 183 |
| 门 | mén | door, gate | 门 | 3 | 185 |
| 教 | jiào | (bound form) to teach; to instruct; a religion; to | 攵 | 11 | 191 |
| 比 | bǐ | to compare; to contrast; ratio | 比 | 4 | 199 |
| 走 | zǒu | to walk; to go; to run | 走 | 7 | 207 |
| 别 | bié | to leave; to part (from); (literary) to differenti | 刂 | 7 | 222 |
| 场 | chǎng | field, place | 土 | 6 | 249 |
| 眼 | yǎn | eye | 目 | 11 | 281 |
| 思 | sī | to think, thought | 心 | 9 | 298 |
| 完 | wán | to finish; to be over; whole | 宀 | 7 | 301 |
| 色 | sè | color; CL:種|种; look | 色 | 6 | 304 |
| 路 | lù | road | 足 | 13 | 305 |
| 记 | jì | to remember, to record | 讠 | 5 | 306 |
| 告 | gào | tell, inform | 口 | 7 | 310 |
| 交 | jiāo | to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn | 亠 | 6 | 320 |
| 万 | wàn | ten thousand; a great number | 一 | 3 | 322 |
| 望 | wàng | full moon; to hope; to expect | 月 | 11 | 326 |
| 让 | ràng | to let, to allow | 讠 | 5 | 339 |
| 运 | yùn | to transport, luck | 辶 | 7 | 345 |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile; to laugh at | 竹 | 10 | 346 |
| 步 | bù | a step; a pace; walk | 止 | 7 | 349 |
| 每 | měi | each; every | 毋 | 7 | 359 |
| 快 | kuài | fast, happy | 忄 | 7 | 366 |
| 往 | wǎng | to go (in a direction); to; towards | 彳 | 8 | 369 |
| 近 | jìn | near | 辶 | 7 | 374 |
| 夫 | fū | husband; man; manual worker | 大 | 4 | 377 |
| 准 | zhǔn | to allow; to grant; in accordance with | 冫 | 10 | 379 |
| 始 | shǐ | to begin | 女 | 8 | 381 |
| 远 | yuǎn | far | 辶 | 7 | 386 |
| 备 | bèi | (bound form) to prepare; to equip; (literary) full | 夂 | 8 | 397 |
| 花 | huā | flower | 艹 | 7 | 410 |
| 离 | lí | to leave; to part from; to be away from; (in givin | 禸 | 11 | 418 |
| 周 | zhōu | week, around | 口 | 8 | 490 |
| 考 | kǎo | to beat; to hit; variant of 考[kao3] | 老 | 6 | 495 |
| 红 | hóng | red | 纟 | 6 | 502 |
| 虽 | suī | although; even though | 虫 | 9 | 504 |
| 希 | xī | to hope; to admire; variant of 稀[xi1] | 巾 | 7 | 508 |
| 黑 | hēi | black | 灬 | 12 | 519 |
| 足 | zú | foot | 足 | 7 | 527 |
| 跟 | gēn | follow, heel | 足 | 13 | 541 |
| 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt | 立 | 10 | 544 |
| 留 | liú | to stay, to keep | 田 | 10 | 554 |
| 诉 | sù | to complain; to sue; to tell | 讠 | 7 | 595 |
| 网 | wǎng | net; network | 罒 | 5 | 605 |
| 乐 | lè | happy; cheerful; to laugh | 丿 | 5 | 619 |
| 球 | qiú | ball used for playing games (variant of 球[qiu2]); | 王 | 11 | 628 |
| 错 | cuò | wrong, mistake | 钅 | 13 | 638 |
| 试 | shì | to try, to test | 讠 | 8 | 643 |
| 拿 | ná | to take, to hold | 手 | 10 | 645 |
| 送 | sòng | to send, to give | 辶 | 9 | 656 |
| 药 | yào | medicine | 艹 | 9 | 662 |
| 游 | yóu | to walk; to tour; to roam; to travel | 氵 | 12 | 695 |
| 室 | shì | room | 宀 | 9 | 708 |
| 啊 | a | exclamation | 口 | 10 | 753 |
| 帮 | bāng | to help; to assist; to support; for sb (i.e. as a | 巾 | 10 | 769 |
| 铁 | tiě | iron | 钅 | 10 | 779 |
| 左 | zuǒ | left; the Left (politics); east; unorthodox; queer | 工 | 5 | 782 |
| 右 | yòu | (bound form) right; right-hand side; (bound form) | 口 | 5 | 783 |
| 酒 | jiǔ | alcohol | 氵 | 10 | 797 |
| 慢 | màn | slow | 忄 | 14 | 822 |
| 介 | jiè | to introduce; to lie between; between | 亻 | 4 | 831 |
| 坏 | huài | bad, broken | 土 | 7 | 832 |
| 鱼 | yú | fish | 鱼 | 8 | 852 |
| 跑 | pǎo | to run | 足 | 12 | 864 |
| 楼 | lóu | building, floor | 木 | 13 | 876 |
| 画 | huà | to draw, painting | 田 | 8 | 883 |
| 票 | piào | ticket; ballot; banknote | 礻 | 10 | 910 |
| 睛 | jīng | eyeball | 目 | 13 | 934 |
| 旅 | lǚ | trip; travel; to travel | 方 | 10 | 950 |
| 笔 | bǐ | writing brush; writing implement (pen, pencil etc) | 竹 | 10 | 956 |
| 词 | cí | word; statement; speech; lyrics; a form of lyric p | 讠 | 7 | 959 |
| 旁 | páng | one side; other; different | 方 | 10 | 980 |
| 阴 | yīn | overcast (weather); cloudy; shady | 阝 | 6 | 986 |
| 跳 | tiào | to jump | 足 | 13 | 998 |
| 爷 | yé | grandpa; old gentleman | 父 | 6 | 1006 |
| 肉 | ròu | meat; flesh; pulp (of a fruit) | 肉 | 6 | 1008 |
| 馆 | guǎn | restaurant, hall | 饣 | 11 | 1010 |
| 店 | diàn | shop | 广 | 8 | 1040 |
| 忘 | wàng | to forget | 心 | 7 | 1055 |
| 妻 | qī | wife | 女 | 8 | 1075 |
| 绿 | lǜ | green | 纟 | 11 | 1087 |
| 舞 | wǔ | to dance; to wield; to brandish | 舛 | 14 | 1142 |
| 姓 | xìng | surname | 女 | 8 | 1147 |
| 懂 | dǒng | to understand | 忄 | 15 | 1206 |
| 绍 | shào | to introduce; to connect | 纟 | 8 | 1228 |
| 丈 | zhàng | measure of length, ten Chinese feet (3.3 m); to me | 一 | 3 | 1236 |
| 洗 | xǐ | to wash | 氵 | 9 | 1241 |
| 鸟 | niǎo | bird | 鸟 | 5 | 1255 |
| 累 | lěi | to accumulate; to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. | 纟 | 8 | 1315 |
| 舒 | shū | to stretch; to unfold; to relax | 舌 | 12 | 1450 |
| 颜 | yán | color; face; countenance | 页 | 15 | 1535 |
| 疼 | téng | ache | 疒 | 10 | 1695 |
| 晴 | qíng | sunny | 日 | 12 | 1941 |
| 裤 | kù | pants | 衤 | 12 | 2054 |
| 啡 | fēi | (used in loanwords for its phonetic value) | 口 | 11 | 2259 |
| 篮 | lán | basket (receptacle); basket (in basketball) | 竹 | 16 | 2287 |
| 咖 | kā | coffee; class; grade | 口 | 8 | 2309 |
| 踢 | tī | to kick | 足 | 15 | 2364 |
| 泳 | yǒng | swimming; to swim | 氵 | 8 | 2497 |
What Comes After HSK 2
HSK 3 adds 284 more characters, bringing your cumulative total to 655. The jump is significant, but the radical knowledge you build at HSK 1-2 makes it manageable. Many HSK 3 characters use radicals you already know well from these first two levels.
For broader context on the exam structure, see our HSK 2026 changes guide. To understand how HSK levels map to real-world reading ability, check out how many Chinese characters do you need to know. And for strategies on preparing for the exam itself, see our guide on how to study for the HSK exam.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are there only 125 characters in HSK 2 compared to 246 in HSK 1?
Are HSK 2 characters harder than HSK 1?
Can I skip HSK 1 and start with HSK 2?
How long does it take to go from HSK 1 to HSK 2?
What percentage of Chinese text can I read with HSK 1-2 characters?
Study HSK 2 with radical decomposition
Study all 125 HSK 2 characters with radical analysis, stroke animations, and 150,000+ example sentences. Track your progress with built-in SRS.