| 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 | 100 | Lv 1 |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) | 44 | 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.) | 30 | 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] | 26 | 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] | 22 | Lv 1 |
| 但是 | dàn shì | but; however | 19 | Lv 1 |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Taiwan pr. [hui3]); (bound form) to reckon accounts | 17 | 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) | 17 | Lv 1 |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my | 16 | Lv 1 |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- | 15 | Lv 2 |
| 就是 | jiù shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if | 15 | Lv 2 |
| 拍 | pāi | to pat; to clap; to slap; to swat; to take (a photo); to shoot (a film); racket (sports); beat (music) | 14 | Lv 7 |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) | 14 | Lv 1 |
| 照片 | zhào piàn | photograph; picture; CL:張|张[zhang1],套[tao4],幅[fu2] | 14 | Lv 5 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 13 | Lv 1 |
| 那 | nà | (specifier) that; the; those (colloquial pr. [nei4]); (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations); then (in that case); (archaic) many; beautiful; how; variant of 哪[na3]; old variant of 挪[nuo2]; surname Na; surname Nuo | 13 | Lv 1 |
| 所以 | suǒ yǐ | therefore; as a result; so; the reason why | 11 | Lv 2 |
| 相机 | xiāng jī | at the opportune moment; as the circumstances allow; camera (abbr. for 照相機|照相机[zhao4 xiang4 ji1]) | 11 | Lv 39 |
| 这个 | zhè gè | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this | 11 | Lv 1 |
| 一个 | yī gè | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) | 10 | Lv 1 |