| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的[pi2 ge2 de5] "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的|跑堂儿的[pao3 tang2 r5 de5] "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的[xin1 de5] "new one"); also pr. [di4] or [di5] in poetry and songs; really and truly; a taxi; a cab (abbr. for 的士[di1 shi4]); (bound form) bull's-eye; target | 102 | Lv 1 |
| 这个 | zhè gè | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this | 96 | Lv 1 |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); to finish; (used with 得[de2] or 不[bu4] after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了[wang4 bu5 liao3] "cannot forget"); (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 無|无[wu2] or 不[bu4]) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least; (of eyes) bright; clear-sighted; to understand clearly; to understand clearly (variant of 瞭|了[liao3]); unofficial variant of 瞭[liao4] | 63 | Lv 1 |
| 就 | jiù | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly; only; as little as; as much as; as many as; to approach; to move towards; to undertake; to engage in; (often followed by 著|着[zhe5]) taking advantage of; (of food) to go with; with regard to; concerning; (pattern: 就[jiu4] ... 也[ye3] ...) even if ... still ...; (pattern: 不[bu4] ... 就[jiu4] ...) if not ... then must be ... | 50 | Lv 1 |
| 鱼 | yú | used in the names of various aquatic animals that are not fish (including abalone 鮑魚|鲍鱼[bao4 yu2], alligators and crocodiles 鱷魚|鳄鱼[e4 yu2] and octopi 章魚|章鱼[zhang1 yu2]); fish (CL:條|条[tiao2],尾[wei3]); surname Yu | 49 | Lv 14 |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (of two people) close; on intimate terms; (after a personal pronoun) hello; to be fond of; to have a tendency to; to be prone to | 42 | Lv 1 |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) | 39 | Lv 1 |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] | 38 | Lv 1 |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3 yi3 lai2]); for the past (amount of time); (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 來世|来世[lai2 shi4]); (between two verbs) in order to; (after a round number) approximately; (used after 得[de2] to indicate possibility, as in 談得來|谈得来[tan2 de5 lai2], or after 不[bu4] to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不來|吃不来[chi1 bu5 lai2]) | 29 | Lv 1 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 28 | Lv 1 |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 27 | Lv 1 |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (coll.) this; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) | 27 | Lv 1 |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) | 25 | Lv 3 |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | inside; interior; also pr. [li3 mian5]; variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] | 25 | Lv 4 |
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligraphy) dot stroke (、); one o'clock (abbr. for 一點鍾|一点钟[yi1 dian3 zhong1]) | 24 | Lv 3 |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the object before the verb: 把[ba3] + {noun} + {verb}); handle | 24 | Lv 1 |
| 话 | huà | dialect; language; spoken words; speech; talk; words; conversation; what sb said; CL:種|种[zhong3],席[xi2],句[ju4],口[kou3],番[fan1]; old variant of 話|话[hua4] | 24 | Lv 3 |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc); variant of 吃[chi1] | 21 | Lv 2 |
| 一下 | yī xià | (after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly | 20 | Lv 2 |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) | 20 | Lv 1 |