The First 100 Characters Every Beginner Needs to Memorize

　　中文入门必背100字

　　Just months before arriving in Beijing, I asked my Chinese friend to give me a Chinese name. She said it was easy since “Andy” can be transliterated to just 安迪(ān, safe; dí, guide).

　　去北京的前几个月，我让我的中国朋友给我起个中国名字。她说因为我的名字Andy可以直接音译为汉字“安迪”，给我起名字简直是小菜一碟。

　　When I did some background research of places to visit in Beijing, Tian’anmen 天安门(Tiān’ānmén or Gate of Heavenly Peace) was one of the recommended spots. The word Tian’anmen got me really interested in learning more characters because it had the same ān as in my name. Then I started using Pleco to decipher subway station names (especially when it’s overcrowded or when I’m on a long train journey).

　　我在查询北京的游览攻略时，热门游览地中有个叫“天安门”的。“天安门”这个词引起了我想要认识更多汉字的欲望，因为它和我的名字当中都有一个“安”字。之后我便开始用汉语字典查询地铁站的名字。(尤其是在拥挤时或是长途旅行中)

　　I remember my Chinese teacher telling me that I would have to memorize not only the phrases but also the pinyin and the characters if I wanted to learn Chinese. It’s hard I must say, but just knowing basic characters will give you enough background to get around, especially when you’re traveling, dining out, or going to malls.

　　记得我的中文老师告诉我，想要学习汉语，不仅要记词组，还要记拼音和汉字、我必须承认这很难，但是只要了解了基础汉字就足以让你在北京四处逛逛了，尤其是旅行，吃饭，购物。

　　I found several resources listing the first 100 Chinese characters beginners to the language might memorize. The first 50 are almost the same, but the lists differ when it comes to the 60 to 100 character tier. Regardless, this list from Learning Chinese Everyday certainly helps, especially for knowing about 80 characters that can help beginners to the language compose simple sentences.

　　我找到了一些资料，上面列着汉语初学者需要记忆的100个汉字。前50个字几乎相同，但从第60个开始就有些不同了。尽管如此，“ Learning Chinese Everyday”上的这个列表确实有用，尤其是当你学会前80个字，你就可以造一些简单的句子了。

　　If you find pronouncing the characters difficult, we have a starter guide which provides an easy way to speak the four Chinese tones. In the list below, you’ll find the pronunciation guide along with a number, its grammatical function, and lexical meaning. The number indicates the character’s usage in most Chinese conversations.

　　如果你觉得发音很难，我们有“初学者指南”，它提供了一个简单的方法来发汉语的四声。在下面这个列表中，每一个发音后都标着一个数字，表示这个字的语法及词汇功能。数字代表这个字在汉语会话中的用途。

　　The website also says that “to understand 90 percent of the content in Chinese publications, students have to learn only about 900 Chinese characters and 11,000 phrases/words.”

　　该网站还标榜“想要看懂中文出版物90%的内容，你只需学习900个左右的汉字和1.1万个词汇或词组”。

　　1 的 (de / 95.9) – particle used after an attribute

　　2 一 (yī / 94.3) – noun one

　　3 是 (shì / 93.0) – verb to be; adjective correct, right

　　4 不 (bù / 91.8) – adverb no

　　5 了 (le / 90.7) – particle used after an action that has taken place or changed

　　6 在 (zài / 89.7) – preposition in, on, at; adverb indicating an ongoing action

　　7 人 (rén / 88.7) – noun human, people, person soul

　　8 有(yǒu / 87.8) – verb have, possess, get, there is

　　9 我 (wǒ / 86.9) – pronoun I; 我的 wǒde my; 我们 wǒmen we, us

　　10 他 (tā / 86.1) – pronoun he, him; 他的 tāde his

　　11 这 (zhè / 85.3) – pronoun this, these

　　12 个 (gè / 84.7) – general measure word for nouns without specific measure words; adjectiveindividual

　　13 们 (men / 84.1) – pronoun used to form a plural pronoun

　　14 中 (zhōng / 83.5) – noun center, middle, in the midst of; abbrev. China

　　15 来 (82.9 / lái) – verb arrive, come; indicate an intended action; particle indicate time period from past to present

　　16 上 (shàng / 82.4) – preposition on, above, upper; verb go up, go to, leave for; adjective last, most recent

　　17 大 (dà / 81.8) – adjective great, large, big; age; eldest

　　18 为 (wèi / 81.3) – preposition for, in the sake of

　　19 和 (hé / 80.8) – conjunction and; preposition in connection to, with; adjective gentle; noun total, sum

　　20 国 (guó / 80.3) – noun country, state; adjective national

　　21 地 (dì / 79.8) – noun the ground; land, soil; place, area

　　22 到 (dào / 79.3) – verb arrive, reach, go to; preposition up until, to

　　23 以 (yǐ / 78.8) – preposition by, for; conjunction and, as well as

　　24 说 (shuō / 78.4) – verb to say, speak, talk; to explain; to scold

　　25 时 (shí / 77.9) – noun period of time; time of day, hour

　　26 要 (yào / 77.5) – verb to want, ask for, wish; must, should; shall, will; take, need; adjectiveimportant, essential

　　27 就 (jiù / 77.1) – adverb at once, right away; already; precisely

　　28 出 (chū / 76.7) – verb to go out, go beyond; exceed; to issue, produce; to happen

　　29 会 (huì / 76.3) – verb can, be able to; would, might; to assemble; to meet; noun meeting, party; association

　　30 可 (kě / 76.0) – verb can, may; conjunction but, yet, however

　　31 也 (yě / 75.6) – adverb too, as well, also; used for emphasis

　　32 你 (nǐ / 75.2) – pronoun you, yourself; your (used with 的 de)

　　33 对 (duì / 74.9) – adjective right, correct; opposite; verb to answer, reply; preposition with regard to

　　34 生 (shēng / 74.5) – verb to bear, to give birth to; noun student; adjective alive, living; unripe, raw

　　35 能 (néng / 74.2) – verb can, could, be able to; noun ability, skill; energy; adjective capable, able

　　36 而 (ér / 73.8) – conjunction and, as well as, to

　　37 子 (zǐ / 73.5) – noun son, child; person; copper; adjective young, tender, small; affiliated

　　38 那 (nà / 73.2) – pronoun that, then

　　39 得 (dé / 72.8) – verb to get, obtain; be satisfied; be suitable; (of calculation) result in, equal

　　40 于 (yú / 72.5) – preposition in, on, at; from; by

　　41 着 (zhe / 72.2) – particle added to a verb or an adjective to indicate a continued action

　　42 下 (xià / 71.9) – preposition below, under; verb to go down; to come; adverb down; noun next (in order)

　　43 自 (zì / 71.6) – pronoun self; preposition from, since; adverb of course, certainly

　　44 之 (zhī / 71.2) – particle used between an attribute and the word it modifies

　　45 年 (nián / 70.9) – noun year; age; adjective annually, yearly

　　46 过 (guò / 70.6) – verb to cross, pass; to exceed; to spend (time); adverb too

　　47 发 (fā / 70.3) – verb to give, issue, emit; to start; to feel; to shoot; measure word for bullets and shells

　　48 后 (hòu / 70.0) – noun behind, back, rear; after; later; last

　　49 作 (zuò / 69.8) – verb to write, compose; regard as; noun writings; work

　　50 里 (lǐ / 69.5) – preposition in, inside; noun inner; hometown; neighborhood; measure word unit of length

　　51 用 (yòng / 69.2) – verb to use, apply; to consume, drink, eat; noun expenses; adjective utility, use

　　52 道 (dào / 68.9) – noun road, way; method; Taoism; verb to say, speak; measure word for long, narrow objects; doors, walls; questions, orders; courses in a meal

　　53 行 (xíng / 68.7) – verb to go; to travel; to cover; to do; to perform; to publish; noun conduct

　　54 所 (suǒ 68.4) – noun place; office; measure word for houses, schools, hospitals

　　55 然 (rán / 68.1) – adjective right, correct; adverb so, like that

　　56 家 (jiā / 67.9) – noun family; house; household, home; an expert

　　57 种 (zhòng / 67.6) – verb to grow, plant; to cultivate; to sow

　　58 事 (shì / 67.3) – noun matter, affair, business; work, job; trouble, accident; involvement, responsibility

　　59 成 (chéng / 67.1) – verb to accomplish, succeed; to turn into, become; noun result, achievement

　　60 方 (fāng / 66.8) – noun square; direction; place, locality; side; party

　　61 多 (duō / 66.6) – adjective a lot of, many, more; verb to have more; adverb to what extent

　　62 经 (jīng / 66.3) – verb to manage, deal with; to pass through, undergo, experience; bear; adjectiveregular, constant; preposition after

　　63 么 (me / 66.1) – suffix for certain characters (pronoun 什么shenme / what; 那么nàme / then, like that)

　　64 去 (qù / 65.8) – verb to go; to go to a place; to remove;

　　65 法 (fǎ / 65.5) – noun law; method; way; standard; model

　　66 学 (xué / 65.4) – verb to study, to learn; to imitate, mimic; noun school, college

　　67 如 (rú / 65.1) – verb like, as, if; for instance; conjunction if

　　68 都 (dōu / 64.9) – adverb all, both; even; already

　　69 同 (tóng / 64.7) – verb be the same as; adverb together, in common; preposition used for comparison

　　70 现 (xiàn / 64.4) – verb to show, to appear, to become visible; adjective present, current; nouncash, money

　　71 当 (dāng / 64.2) – verb should; act as; accept; deserve; preposition just at

　　72 没 (méi / 64.0) – verb to be without; not have; adverb not

　　73 动 (dòng / 63.8) – verb to move; to use; to touch; to arouse

　　74 面 (miàn / 63.6) – noun noodle; face; surface; measure word for flat things

　　75 起 (qǐ / 63.3) – verb to rise, to get up; to grow, to begin; adjective upward, up

　　76 看 (kàn / 63.1) – verb to see, to look at, to watch over; to look after, tend

　　77 定 (dìng / 62.9) – verb to decide, fix, set; to subscribe; adjective calm, stable; adverb surely, definitely

　　78 天 (tiān / 62.7) – noun sky, heaven; weather; time of day

　　79 分 (fēn / 62.5) – verb to divide, part, separate; to allot, distribute, assign; measure word for minute, cent, fraction, point, mark

　　80 还 (hái / 62.3) – adverb still, yet; even more; also, too; even

　　81 进 (jìn / 62.0) – verb to advance, move forward; to enter, get into

　　82 好 (hǎo / 61.8) – adjective good, fine, well; done

　　83 小 (xiǎo / 61.6) – adjective small, little, minor; young, youngest; a bit

　　84 部 (bù / 61.4) – noun part, section; headquarters, department; measure word for machines, vehicles; films

　　85 其 (qí / 61.2) – pronoun his, her, its, their; he, she, it, they; that, such

　　86 些 (xiē / 61.0) – measure word some, few; a little more

　　87 主 (zhǔ / 60.8) – noun host; master; owner; adjective main; verb to manage, to take charge

　　88 样 (yàng / 60.6) – noun appearance, shape; sample, pattern; type

　　89 理 (lǐ / 60.4) – noun reason, logic, truth; verb to manage, run; to put in order

　　90 心 (xīn / 60.2) – noun heart; core, center; feeling; mind; intention

　　91 她 (tā / 60.0) – pronoun she, her, hers

　　92 本 (běn / 59.8) – noun book, script; adjective current; adverb at first, originally measure word for books

　　93 前 (qián /59.6) – noun front; forward; ahead; ago; before

　　94 开 (kāi / 59.4) – verb to open, open up; to begin, start; to operate; to hold (a meeting)

　　95 但 (dàn / 59.2) – conjunction but, still, yet; adverb only

　　96 因 (yīn / 59.0) – preposition because of noun cause, reason

　　97 只 (zhǐ / 58.8) – adverb only, merely, just, but

　　98 从 (cóng / 58.6) – preposition from, through, past; verb to follow; to comply, obey

　　99 想 (xiǎng / 58.4) – verb to think, to ponder; to miss; to want (doing something)

　　100 实 (shí / 58.2) – adjective solid; real, true; factual; noun reality, fact; fruit; seed

　　There’s an alternative list of the first 100 characters in order of frequency ，and another with 300 characters and their definitions. This can be a great way to kill time while on the subway or during long travels!

　　除此之外，网站上还有“流利中文100词”以及“300个汉字及释义”。它是你在地铁或长途途旅行中消磨时间的绝佳方法。

（编辑：何莹莹）