| 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 | 79 | Lv 1 |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my | 30 | Lv 1 |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 29 | Lv 1 |
| 环保 | huán bǎo | environmental protection; environmentally friendly; abbr. for 環境保護|环境保护[huan2 jing4 bao3 hu4] | 27 | Lv 70 |
| 这个 | zhè gè | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this | 24 | 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) | 23 | Lv 2 |
| 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]) | 22 | 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) | 22 | 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] | 22 | Lv 1 |
| 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 | 21 | Lv 1 |
| 垃圾 | lā jī | trash; refuse; garbage; (coll.) of poor quality; Taiwan pr. [le4 se4] | 19 | Lv 21 |
| 回收 | huí shōu | to recycle; to reclaim; to retrieve; to recover; to recall (a defective product) | 17 | Lv 90 |
| 就是 | jiù shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if | 17 | Lv 2 |
| 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] | 16 | Lv 1 |
| 啊 | a | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh!; interjection expressing doubt or requiring answer; Eh?; what?; interjection of surprise or doubt; Eh?; My!; what's up?; interjection or grunt of agreement; uhm; Ah, OK; expression of recognition; Oh, it's you!; modal particle ending sentence, showing affirmation, approval, or consent | 16 | Lv 1 |
| 袋子 | dài zi | bag | 16 | Lv 29 |
| 钱 | qián | coin; money; unit of weight, one tenth of a tael 兩|两[liang3]; CL:筆|笔[bi3]; surname Qian | 15 | 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.) | 14 | Lv 1 |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) | 13 | Lv 1 |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) | 13 | Lv 1 |