🇨🇳 CHINESE · HSK 1

Chinese – Batch 01

人 · 大 · 小 · 山 · 日 · Reading · Listening · Writing

What is Pinyin? Pinyin is the official romanisation system for Mandarin Chinese. Every syllable has a tone — the same syllable said in a different tone is a completely different word. There are four tones plus a neutral tone:
1st (ā) — high & level | 2nd (á) — rising, like a question | 3rd (ǎ) — dip then rise | 4th (à) — sharp fall | Neutral (a) — light, unstressed
In exercises you may type tone marks (rén) or tone numbers (ren2) — both are accepted.

📋 Pinyin Quick Reference

Characters in this batch — type either form in exercises:

ren2 → rén

da4 → dà

xiao3 → xiǎo

shan1 → shān

ri4 → rì

🔊 Hear all 5 tones — same syllable "ren", five different meanings:

rēn Tone 1 — level 仁 · kindness

rén Tone 2 — rising ★ 人 · person

rěn Tone 3 — dip-rise 忍 · to endure

rèn Tone 4 — falling 认 · to recognize

renmen Neutral — unstressed 人们 · people

★ = used in this batch | Neutral: listen to how "们" is lighter and shorter than "人".

Tone	Number	Mark (a)	Mark (e)	Mark (i)	Mark (u)
1st — high level	1	ā	ē	ī	ū
2nd — rising	2	á	é	í	ú
3rd — dip-rise	3	ǎ	ě	ǐ	ǔ
4th — falling	4	à	è	ì	ù
Neutral	5 or 0	a	e	i	u

💡 On most keyboards, tone marks are hard to type — use the number form (ren2, da4) in exercises. Both are always accepted.

Progress: 0 / 4 exercises completed

A — Flashcard Practice

Click the card to reveal pinyin, meaning, and stroke count. Use the audio button to hear the pronunciation.

人

HSK 1

Tap to flip

1 / 5

B — Listen & Identify

Press the speaker button to hear a character pronounced. Choose the correct character from the four options.

C — Meaning Match

Look at the character. Choose the correct English meaning.

D — Reading in Context

Pinyin is shown for each sentence — type the missing pinyin in the blank. Press the audio button to hear the sentence, then repeat aloud.

🔊 Tip: Press Hear sentence, listen carefully, then say the full sentence out loud. Type the missing pinyin (tone mark or number form).

E — Stroke Count

How many strokes does each character take to write? Type the number. Tip: close your eyes and trace each character in your head — count how many times your pen lifts off the paper. Each unbroken line = one stroke.

人 rén — person

Pictograph: 人 looks like a person walking — two legs striding forward. One of the oldest Chinese characters, unchanged for 3,000 years. Found in hundreds of compound words.
⚠️ Don't confuse with 入 (rù, "enter") — 入 has the left stroke longer.

2nd tone (rén ↗) — rising, like asking "Really?" Say it with surprise in your voice: ren2.

人们rénmenpeople (plural)
中国人ZhōngguórénChinese person
人口rénkǒupopulation

Tā shì yī gè rén.

他是一个人。

He is one person.

Zhèlǐ yǒu hěn duō rén.

这里有很多人。

There are many people here.

大 dà — big

Pictograph: A person (人) with arms stretched wide — showing how big something is. The horizontal stroke represents the outstretched arms.
⚠️ Compare 大 (big), 太 (too/very) — 太 has an extra dot.

4th tone (dà ↘) — sharp falling tone. Say it firmly, like giving a command: da4.

大学dàxuéuniversity
大家dàjiāeveryone
大人dàrenadult

Zhège píngguǒ hěn dà.

这个苹果很大。

This apple is very big.

Tā jiā hěn dà.

他家很大。

His house is very big.

小 xiǎo — small

Pictograph: Three small drops or pebbles — representing something tiny split into pieces. Visually the opposite of 大.
⚠️ Compare 小 (small) and 少 (shǎo, few) — 少 has an extra stroke at the top.

3rd tone (xiǎo ↓↑) — dips down then rises. The "dipping" tone. Tip: it often sounds like a low drawl in natural speech: xiao3.

小学xiǎoxuéprimary school
小人xiǎorénlittle person / petty person
小心xiǎoxīnbe careful

Zhège māo hěn xiǎo.

这个猫很小。

This cat is very small.

Wǒ yǒu yī gè xiǎo wūzi.

我有一个小屋子。

I have a small room.

山 shān — mountain

Pictograph: 山 is one of the clearest pictographs — three peaks of a mountain range, with the central peak tallest. Draw it from left to right: left peak, base, right peak, then tall central peak.

1st tone (shān →) — high and flat, like a robot voice. Hold the note steady: shan1.

山水shānshuǐlandscape / scenery
大山dàshāngreat mountain
小山xiǎoshānsmall hill / hillock

Nà zuò shān hěn gāo.

那座山很高。

That mountain is very tall.

Wǒ xiǎng qù shān shàng.

我想去山上。

I want to go up the mountain.

日 rì — sun / day

Pictograph: Ancient form was a circle with a dot in the centre — the sun. Over time it squared off into 日. Means both "sun" and "day" (a day is measured by the sun).
⚠️ Compare 日 (sun/day) and 目 (mù, eye) — 目 has an extra horizontal line inside.

4th tone (rì ↘) — sharp falling. Same tone as 大. Think of the sun setting (falling): ri4.

日本RìběnJapan
日语RìyǔJapanese language
生日shēngrìbirthday

Jīntiān shì xīngqī rì.

今天是星期日。

Today is Sunday.

Tā de shēngrì shì jǐ yuè jǐ rì?

他的生日是几月几日？

What date is his birthday?

Tone System

Tone	Mark	Number	Chinese	Description	Batch example
1st	ā	1	阴平	High, flat, held steady	shān (山)
2nd	á	2	阳平	Rising — like "Really?"	rén (人)
3rd	ǎ	3	上声	Dip then rise — lowest tone	xiǎo (小)
4th	à	4	去声	Sharp falling — like "No!"	dà (大), rì (日)
Neutral	a	5 / 0	轻声	Short, unstressed	—

Stroke Order Principles

Top → Bottom
Left → Right
Horizontal before vertical (when crossing)
Left-falling before right-falling
Centre before sides (vertical axis)
Outside before inside (enclosures)
Close the bottom last
Minor strokes last (dots / small sweeps)

Batch 01 Summary

Char	Pinyin	Meaning	Strokes	HSK
人	rén	person / people	2	HSK 1
大	dà	big / large	3	HSK 1
小	xiǎo	small / little	3	HSK 1
山	shān	mountain	3	HSK 1
日	rì	sun / day	4	HSK 1

Pinyin Typing Guide

All exercises accept tone marks (rén, xiǎo) or tone numbers (ren2, xiao3). Tone marks require special keyboard input (hold vowel key or use a pinyin IME). Tone numbers are always easier — just type the syllable followed by 1, 2, 3, or 4. Both forms are equally correct.

🔊 Audio pronunciation powered by the Web Speech API (built into your browser, no external service).
For a comprehensive pinyin reference, visit Yabla Chinese Pinyin Chart.
Stroke order practice: Skritter · Character lookup: MDBG Dictionary.