| 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 | 64 | Lv 1 |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my | 52 | Lv 1 |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) | 35 | Lv 1 |
| 他们 | tā men | they; them | 28 | Lv 1 |
| 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.) | 24 | Lv 1 |
| 老板 | lǎo bǎn | Robam (brand); boss; business proprietor; variant of 老闆|老板[lao3 ban3]; CL:個|个[ge4] | 23 | Lv 10 |
| 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] | 21 | Lv 1 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 19 | 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] | 19 | 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 | 19 | Lv 1 |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) | 16 | Lv 1 |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good | 14 | Lv 1 |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) | 14 | Lv 1 |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, friends etc); (of a thing) to serve as; to be used for; to assume (an air or manner) | 13 | Lv 1 |
| 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) | 12 | Lv 1 |
| 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 | 12 | Lv 1 |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] | 12 | Lv 3 |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 11 | Lv 1 |
| 朋友 | péng yǒu | friend; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4] | 11 | Lv 2 |
| 说 | shuō | to persuade; to speak; to talk; to say; to explain; to comment; to scold; to tell off; (bound form) theory; doctrine; variant of 說|说[shuo1] | 11 | Lv 1 |