| 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 | 70 | Lv 1 |
| 这个 | zhè gè | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this | 61 | 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 | 36 | 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] | 33 | 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] | 32 | Lv 1 |
| 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release; to free; to let go; to let out; to set off (fireworks) | 28 | Lv 3 |
| 牛肉 | niú ròu | beef | 27 | Lv 39 |
| 就 | jiù | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly; only; as little as; as much as; as many as; to approach; to move towards; to undertake; to engage in; (often followed by 著|着[zhe5]) taking advantage of; (of food) to go with; with regard to; concerning; (pattern: 就[jiu4] ... 也[ye3] ...) even if ... still ...; (pattern: 不[bu4] ... 就[jiu4] ...) if not ... then must be ... | 23 | Lv 1 |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) | 22 | 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 | 18 | Lv 1 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 18 | Lv 1 |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoughtful; thorough | 18 | Lv 1 |
| 加 | jiā | to add; (math.) plus; to increase; to augment; (used before a disyllabic verb, often after an adverb like 不[bu4], 大[da4], 稍[shao1] etc, to indicate that the action applies to sth previously mentioned, as in 稍加改良[shao1 jia1 gai3 liang2] "make some minor improvements to (it)"); Canada (abbr. for 加拿大[Jia1 na2 da4]); surname Jia | 18 | Lv 8 |
| 炒 | chǎo | to sauté; to stir-fry; to speculate (in real estate etc); to scalp; to hype up; to sack; to fire (sb) | 18 | Lv 26 |
| 一点 | yī diǎn | a bit; a little bit; (used in negative expressions) (not) the least bit; (after an adjective, used to form the comparative) a bit more, -er; a point (in a discussion etc); (calligraphy) dot stroke (、); one o'clock (abbr. for 一點鍾|一点钟[yi1 dian3 zhong1]) | 17 | Lv 3 |
| 要 | yào | to want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]); (bound form) to demand; to coerce; (bound form) important | 16 | Lv 1 |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 15 | 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 | 15 | Lv 1 |
| 然后 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards | 14 | Lv 2 |
| 里面 | lǐ miàn | inside; interior; also pr. [li3 mian5]; variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] | 14 | Lv 4 |