| 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 | 304 | 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) | 88 | 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] | 68 | 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] | 63 | 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 | 56 | Lv 1 |
| 我們 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves; our | 50 | Lv 1 |
| 這 | 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) | 47 | Lv 1 |
| 著 | zhe | to make known; to show; to prove; to write; book; outstanding | 43 | Lv 1 |
| 它 | tā | it; it (pronoun for an animal) | 39 | Lv 1 |
| 裡 | lǐ | lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; Li (surname); li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m; neighborhood; ancient administrative unit of 25 families; (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhen4] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lin2] levels; variant of 裡|里[li3] | 32 | Lv 1 |
| 年 | nián | year; grain; harvest (old); CL:個|个[ge4]; variant of 年[nian2]; surname Nian | 31 | Lv 2 |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- | 29 | Lv 1 |
| 兩 | liǎng | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jin1] (old) | 29 | Lv 2 |
| 們 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals | 26 | Lv 2 |
| 生命 | shēng mìng | life (as the characteristic of living beings); living being; creature (CL:個|个[ge4],條|条[tiao2]) | 26 | Lv 7 |
| 上 | shàng | used in 上聲|上声[shang3 sheng1]; first (of multiple parts); to climb; to get onto; to go up; to attend (class or university); (directional complement) up; (noun suffix) on; above; (bound form) up; upper; above; previous | 23 | Lv 1 |
| 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct; earth; ground; field; place; land; CL:片[pian4] | 21 | Lv 3 |
| 一個 | yī gè | a; an; one; the whole (afternoon, summer vacation etc) | 20 | 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 | 20 | Lv 1 |
| 千萬 | qiān wàn | ten million; countless; many; one must by all means | 19 | Lv 19 |