| 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 | 179 | 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] | 89 | 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] | 75 | 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) | 67 | Lv 1 |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 66 | Lv 1 |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) | 61 | Lv 1 |
| 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] | 52 | Lv 2 |
| 菜 | cài | (of one's skills etc) weak; poor; (coll.) (one's) type; vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1]); dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yang4],道[dao4],盤|盘[pan2]) | 44 | Lv 18 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 37 | Lv 1 |
| 点 | diǎn | to touch briefly; to tap; to mark with a dot; to check off (on a list); to order (food etc); to select; to mention; to bring up (a topic or person); to hint at; to imply; to administer (eye medicine etc) in drops; to light (a fire, a lamp etc); to ignite; to nod (one's head) in agreement; to beckon by moving (one's hand) up and down; point; dot; spot; speck; dot stroke in Chinese characters; (math.) decimal point; point in time or space; (after a number) o'clock; a small amount; a bit; (after a verb or adjective) a bit more; classifier for small amounts | 32 | 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 | 30 | 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 | 27 | Lv 1 |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my | 26 | Lv 1 |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) | 26 | Lv 1 |
| 道 | dào | (Daoism) the Way; the Dao; to say (introducing a direct quotation, as in a novel); classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks, shadows etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process; (old) circuit (administrative division); road; path (CL:條|条[tiao2],股[gu3]); (bound form) way; reason; principle; (bound form) a skill; an art; a specialization; (bound form) to express; to extend (polite words) | 26 | Lv 22 |
| 顿 | dùn | to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one's foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal | 26 | Lv 14 |
| 饭 | fàn | cooked rice; meal; (loanword) fan; devotee; CL:碗[wan3]; CL:頓|顿[dun4] | 26 | Lv 18 |
| 辣 | là | hot (spicy); pungent; (of chili pepper, raw onions etc) to sting; to burn; old variant of 辣[la4] | 24 | Lv 25 |
| 都 | dōu | all; both; entirely; (used for emphasis) even; already; (not) at all; capital city; metropolis; surname Du | 23 | 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) | 22 | Lv 2 |