Hi, my name is Sabatino! I am from Italy and I am a Student Advisor at LTL. Fancy coming to study with us in China?
REVEALED || The 100 Most Common Chinese Characters
Become a Pro || Top 100 Most Common Chinese Characters
There are various lists for the most common Chinese characters out there, making learning Chinese all that more difficult.
It’s hard to categorize the top 100 common Chinese characters when there are thousands to choose from.
Tens of thousands, in fact, but don’t worry, we’ve got all the answers here.
Do I need to know all the Chinese characters? No! You don’t need to know them all.
Learning a set of characters and breaking them down helps to get the hang of learning Chinese characters.
Learn your first 10, then 50, then 100… 1000… Once you’ve hit more than 1000 you’ll be able to speak pretty fluently.
Get to 3000 and this is generally deemed the amount that most learners need to be able to read most things.
JUST FOR YOU – Keep reading and we’ve got a great freebie for you at the end!
Chinese characters are made up of one, two, or several Chinese radicals.
They have one of 5 tones and sometimes can have a different tone depending on the context or which character they’re next to.
They can even have a completely different pronunciation depending on their meaning, e.g. 行 can either be ‘xing = to go, OK’ or ‘hang = 银行 yinhang, bank’.
But, don’t fret! The more you learn, the easier it gets – we promise!
You will begin to see patterns within the characters, recognize the same ones that come up frequently and that join together to form a word and recognize certain radicals to decipher the meaning or the pronunciation.
The more you practice typing or writing Chinese characters, the easier you will learn.
To start you on your journey, we’ve put together 100 of some of the most common Chinese characters there are.
Most Common Chinese Characters || 1-10
Most Common Chinese Characters || 11-20
Most Common Chinese Characters || 21-30
Most Common Chinese Characters || 31-40
Most Common Chinese Characters || 41-50
Most Common Chinese Characters || 51-60
Most Common Chinese Characters || 61-70
Most Common Chinese Characters || 71-80
Most Common Chinese Characters || 81-90
Most Common Chinese Characters || 91-100
BONUS || Most Common Chinese Characters Quiz
DOUBLE BONUS || Common Chinese Characters Poster
Most Common Chinese Characters || FAQs
Before we reveal all… we think you’ll like this
Most Common Chinese Characters: 1-10
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 的 | de | grammatical particle marking possession |
| 一 | yī | one |
| 是 | shì | to be |
| 不 | bù | not, negative |
| 了 | le | verb particle marking past tense, completed action, change in condition. |
| 人 | rén | person |
| 我 | wǒ | I |
| 在 | zài | at, located at |
| 有 | yǒu | have, there is |
| 他 | tā | he |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 11-20
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 这 | zhè | this |
| 中 | zhōng | middle |
| 大 | dà | big |
| 来 | lái | come |
| 上 | shàng | above, on, over/last, previous |
| 国 | guó | country |
| 个 | gè | general quantifier |
| 到 | dào | to, towards, until, arrive |
| 说 | shuō | speak, say |
| 们 | men | pluralize nouns referring to people |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 21-30
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 为 | wèi | in order to, for the purpose of… |
| 子 | zǐ | child |
| 和 | hé | together, with |
| 你 | nǐ | you |
| 地 | dì | earth, ground, place |
| 出 | chū | go out, come out |
| 道 | dào | way, path, way |
| 也 | yě | also, as well |
| 时 | shí | time period, season |
| 年 | nián | year |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 31-40
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 得 | de | to have to / adverbial particle |
| 就 | jiù | just, simply, right away |
| 那 | nà | that |
| 要 | yào | want, will do, need, important |
| 下 | xià | below, under, down / next |
| 以 | yǐ | because of, in order to / according to |
| 生 | shēng | give birth, life |
| 会 | huì | can, able, meet, party, society |
| 自 | zì | from, self |
| 着 | zhe | verb particle marking a progressive aspect (e.g. -ing) |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 41-50
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 去 | qù | go, leave, depart |
| 之 | zhī | subordinator, go, leave for |
| 过 | guò | pass, cross, exceed |
| 家 | jiā | home, family |
| 学 | xué | study, learn |
| 对 | duì | correct, mutual, pair |
| 可 | kě | ~able, may, can |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 里 | lǐ | neighborhood, half kilometer |
| 后 | hòu | queen |
If you are still with us, we salute you… we’ve hit the half-way point. Time for the next 50, deep breath, let’s go!
The most common characters in Chinese from 50th-100th…
Most Common Chinese Characters: 51-60
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 么 | me/mo | interrogative suffix |
| 心 | xīn | heart |
| 多 | duō | many, much, more |
| 天 | tiān | sky, heaven, god, day |
| 而 | ér | and, furthermore |
| 能 | néng | can, be able |
| 好 | hǎo | good |
| 都 | dōu | all |
| 然 | rán | correct, so, like that |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 61-70
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 没 | méi | haven’t, there isn’t, no |
| 日 | rì | sun |
| 于 | yú | in, at, for, to, from, by, than |
| 起 | qǐ | rise, start |
| 还 | hái | still, yet |
| 发 | fā | deliver, develop, expand |
| 成 | chéng | accomplish, succeed / to become |
| 事 | shì | matter, thing, event, accident |
| 只 | zhǐ | only, just |
| 作 | zuò | do, make |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 71-80
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 当 | dāng | serve as, act as |
| 想 | xiǎng | think, feel, want |
| 看 | kàn | see, look at |
| 文 | wén | language, literature |
| 无 | wú | without, have not |
| 开 | kāi | open |
| 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 十 | shí | ten |
| 用 | yòng | use |
| 主 | zhǔ | lord, master, live |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 81-90
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 行 | xíng | go, OK |
| 方 | fāng | side |
| 又 | yòu | again, both… and… |
| 如 | rú | like, as, as if |
| 前 | qián | in front, previous, first, former |
| 所 | suǒ | place |
| 本 | běn | basis, origin, edition |
| 见 | jiàn | appear to be, meet with |
| 经 | jīng | longitude |
| 头 | tóu | head, top, first |
Most Common Chinese Characters: 91-100
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| 面 | miàn | face, surface |
| 公 | gōng | public, official |
| 同 | tóng | same |
| 三 | sān | three |
| 已 | yǐ | stop, end |
| 老 | lǎo | old |
| 从 | cóng | from, through |
| 动 | dòng | move |
| 两 | liǎng | two |
| 长 | cháng | long, length |
BONUS – Most Common Chinese Characters Quiz
Ready to put yourself to the test with our quick-fire quiz?
Common Chinese Characters Poster
Two Chinese character posters for the price of one… aren’t we good to you…
BONUS CONTENT | Interested in other languages too? Why not check out our list of 100 Korean words to learn, the 100 most common Japanese words and the most commonly used Vietnamese words too.
Most Common Chinese Characters || FAQs
What is the most common Chinese character?
The most common Chinese character is 的 (de) which actually has no meaning by itself but is a grammatical particle used in Chinese.
What are the top 10 most common Chinese characters?
The top 10 most common Chinese characters are (from first to tenth):
的 一 是 不 了 人 我 在 有 他
How many characters do I need to know to pass HSK1?
If you know 178 Chinese characters, you should be able to pass HSK 1, which is the most basic exam to define a foreigners capability in Mandarin.
How long does it take to learn the first 100 Chinese characters?
You could learn these characters, and their meanings pretty quickly if you study Chinese intensively. This is the key, if you have the time, and the drive and motivation, you can learn these in a few hours of Chinese class no problem.
Want more from LTL?
If you wish to hear more from LTL Mandarin School why not join our mailing list?
We give plenty of handy information on learning Chinese, useful apps to learn the language and everything going on at our LTL schools.
Sign up below and become part of our ever-growing community.
BONUS | Learn Chinese with LTL in person. Our student community is growing by the week.
16 comments
[…] know some mandarin. I’m not suggesting learning the entire language right before you start a new business […]
[…] as you’ll notice, are two fairly common characters and can actually both be used in the same context so be very careful with […]
[…] are the 100 most common Chinese Characters to get you […]
[…] In the meantime, you can check out our posts on Chinese radicals, language learning tips or 100 most common Chinese characters. […]
[…] In the meantime, you can check out our posts on Chinese radicals, language learning tips or 100 most common Chinese characters. […]
[…] biggest struggle with Chinese language learning has been reading Chinese characters so Anna is helping me to overcome […]
[…] qiú is quite a common Chinese character which you will see in other words such […]
[…] You might find some similarities to these 100 common Chinese Characters […]
I really didn’t know where to begin learning characters but this really helps!
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the kind comment, really glad to hear that this has helped you. If you’re trying to teach yourself Chinese be sure to check out our free Chinese classes which run every week!
LTL
I alwaysssss get character like this mixed up thanks for sharing!
Thanks Derek! Yes, some of these are very hard to tell apart, we feel your pain 😵.
The LTL Team
Posters are super tidy, downloaded
Really happy to hear that Amita
Your article helped me a lot. Chinese is hard but I will do my best
You got this Ravi