Which Traditional Chinese words should I learn first?

The easiest words of grammar and everyday life: basic verbs, small structural words, polite phrases, numbers, family, food. This page gathers 100 of them.

What comes after these 100 words?

Carry on topic by topic: each list gives 100 words sorted into three levels. The KoKo app gathers +6,000 Traditional Chinese words and brings each one back at the right moment.

Can I print this list or save it as a PDF?

Yes. The “Print the list” button at the top of the page opens your device’s print dialog: choose to save as PDF to keep the 100 words and their translation, with nothing else around them.

Your first 100 Traditional Chinese words

New to Traditional Chinese? Here are 100 easy words to start with: verbs, the small words of grammar and everyday vocabulary, translated into English.

These words come from the 26 grammar and everyday-life topics of KoKo. The app holds 2,397 words at this level.

Grammar 24 words

Traditional Chinese	English
說	to say
讀	to read
笑	to laugh
殺	to kill
低	low
好	good
生的	raw
堅硬	hard
那裡	there
這裡	here
不好地	badly
一點	little
到	toPreposition, movement in the direction of a place
從	fromProvenance, origin
和	and
或者	or
在那裡	thereAdverbial pronoun of place, replaces a complement
這個	thisDemonstrative determiner, masculine before a consonant
一些	somePartitive article, masculine singular
其	of it
走進來	to come in
搭乘	to get on
交還	to give back
脫身	to get out

Everyday life 76 words

Traditional Chinese	English
不是	no
是的	yes
謝謝	thank you
嗨	hiInformal greeting
一	one
十	ten
少量	few
六	six
結尾	end
五月	May
夏天	summer
八月	August
骨頭	boneHard part of the skeleton
脖子	neck
背部	back
鼻子	nose
瘀青	bruise
休息	rest
健康	health
病毒	virus
朋友	friend
寶寶	baby
兒子	son
老公	husbandEveryday use
瘋狂	crazy
感到失望	disappointed
尷尬	embarrassment
喜悅	joy
鑰匙	key
床	bed
牆壁	wall
地板	floor
螺絲	screw
木材	wood
釘子	nail
膠水	glue
絲襪	stockings
衣領	collar
時髦	smart
皮革	leather
大蒜	garlic
小麥	wheat
水	water
果汁	juice
有機	organic
碗	bowl
飢餓	hunger
味道	flavour
袋子	bag
昂貴	expensive
密碼	PIN code
成本	cost
街道	street
火車站	train station
公園	park
地圖	map
公車	bus
遊覽車	coach
機車	motorbike
港口	harbour
班機	flight
住宿帳單	bill
景點	site
導遊	guide
隘口	mountain pass
東方	east
湖泊	lake
鳥喙	beak
公雞	rooster
鳥巢	nest
金	gold
拱形	arch
鐵	iron
連結	link
網頁	page
通話	call

Mini quiz

5 words from this page, picked at random. Find their translation.

Frequently asked questions

Which Traditional Chinese words should I learn first?: The easiest words of grammar and everyday life: basic verbs, small structural words, polite phrases, numbers, family, food. This page gathers 100 of them.
What comes after these 100 words?: Carry on topic by topic: each list gives 100 words sorted into three levels. The KoKo app gathers +6,000 Traditional Chinese words and brings each one back at the right moment.
Can I print this list or save it as a PDF?: Yes. The “Print the list” button at the top of the page opens your device’s print dialog: choose to save as PDF to keep the 100 words and their translation, with nothing else around them.

How KoKo makes words stick

These lists come from KoKo, the app to learn Traditional Chinese vocabulary on iPhone.