| 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 | 194 | 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] | 139 | Lv 1 |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) | 88 | 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) | 63 | Lv 1 |
| 酒店 | jiǔ diàn | wine shop; pub (public house); hotel; restaurant; (Tw) hostess club | 59 | Lv 16 |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 56 | Lv 1 |
| 这个 | zhè gè | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this | 55 | Lv 1 |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) | 41 | Lv 1 |
| 两 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) | 40 | Lv 2 |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards | 40 | Lv 2 |
| 一个 | yī gè | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) | 39 | Lv 1 |
| 和 | hé | (joining two nouns) and; together with; with (Taiwan pr. [han4]); (math.) sum; to make peace; (sports) to draw; to tie; to compose a poem in reply (to sb's poem) using the same rhyme sequence; to join in the singing; to chime in with others; to complete a set in mahjong or playing cards; to combine a powdery substance (flour, plaster etc) with water; Taiwan pr. [huo4]; to mix (ingredients) together; to blend; classifier for rinses of clothes; classifier for boilings of medicinal herbs; old variant of 和[he2]; (bound form) harmonious; (bound form) Japan; Japanese; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]); surname He | 36 | Lv 1 |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit | 35 | 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] | 30 | Lv 1 |
| 呢 | ne | particle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ...?"); particle for inquiring about location ("Where is ...?"); particle signaling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words and allow the listener time to take them on board ("ok?", "are you with me?"); (at the end of a declarative sentence) particle indicating continuation of a state or action; particle indicating strong affirmation; dense wool fabric (used for coats and jackets) | 30 | Lv 2 |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) | 30 | Lv 1 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 29 | Lv 1 |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my | 26 | Lv 1 |
| 房间 | fáng jiān | room; CL:間|间[jian1],個|个[ge4] | 26 | Lv 5 |
| 时候 | shí hòu | time; length of time; moment; period | 21 | Lv 1 |