Should I take HSK 3 or HSK 4?

HSK is cumulative, so a Level 4 candidate is examined on Levels 1 to 4. Read both word lists: if much of the HSK 3 list is still new, sit HSK 3.

Is pinyin printed on the HSK 3 or HSK 4 paper?

No. Pinyin is printed at HSK 2 and stops after it, so both levels assume you read characters.

How many times is the listening audio played at HSK 4?

Once. At HSK 3 it is played twice, which is one of the clearest steps up between the two levels.

Guides

HSK 3 or HSK 4: what changes between them, and which one to sit

Q: What is the difference between HSK 3 and HSK 4?

Both papers hold 70 questions in 85 minutes for 300 marks, and each level holds 972 words. Because HSK is cumulative, the list behind the HSK 4 paper is 2,684 words, against 1,712 at HSK 3. HSK 4 also plays the listening audio once instead of twice and cuts writing from 10 questions to 6.

The two levels share a paper shape — 70 questions, 300 marks, 85 minutes each. What changes is the vocabulary behind them and how much help the paper gives you.

What is the difference between HSK 3 and HSK 4?

	HSK 3	HSK 4
Words at this level	972	972
Words examined, Level 2 up	1,712	2,684
Distinct characters at this level	651	821
Themes / lessons	35 / 139	35 / 140
Questions	70	70
Minutes	85	85
Listening played	twice	once
Writing questions	10	6
Pinyin printed on the paper	no	no

Each level adds 972 words. Because HSK is cumulative, the list behind the HSK 4 paper is 2,684 words, against 1,712 at HSK 3.

The rest of the step is in the last three rows. At HSK 3 the listening audio is played twice; at HSK 4 it is played once, so a word you did not catch the first time is gone. And the writing section goes from 10 questions to 6.

Which level should I take?

HSK is cumulative: sitting Level 4 means being examined on Levels 1 to 4, not on Level 4 alone. So the question is not which level you like the look of but where your vocabulary actually stops.

Sit HSK 3 if the everyday week — travel, shopping, health, plans, describing people and places — is still work. That is 972 words across 139 lessons here.
Sit HSK 4 if that is comfortable and the gap is opinions, comparisons, cause and effect, and formal arrangements. That is a further 972 words on top, not instead.

To choose, read both lists: every HSK 3 word and every HSK 4 word, with pinyin and meanings. If more than a handful of the HSK 3 list is new, that is the level.

Is HSK 4 much harder than HSK 3?

It is 972 more words to hold — 2,684 against 1,712 — on a paper of the same length and the same 85 minutes, with the listening played once instead of twice. The step is in the listening and in the writing, more than in the reading.

Neither level prints pinyin on the paper — that stops after HSK 2 — so both assume you read characters.

How do I practise for either?

The app carries both levels in full and 20 mock papers at each, with listening and reading marked. Lessons 1 to 10 of every level are free.

Open the app

The full paper shape at every level · What each HSK 3.0 level covers