Hi, my name is Manuel! I am from Spain and I am a Student Advisor at LTL. I’m now based at our Seoul School after living 3 years in Taipei.
Hi, my name is Mojca. I am from Slovenia in Europe and I and I work as a student advisor at our Shanghai school.Traditional Chinese Characters List 🀄 The 100 Most Common (WITH FREE QUIZ)
Traditional Chinese Characters List | The 100 Most Common Characters
There are literally thousands of characters so today we’re going to start off with a list of the 100 most common Traditional Chinese characters.
Make sure to have a read of our Traditional Chinese vs Simplified Chinese blog if you’re not sure what the difference is.
But you might be wondering, how many characters actually are there?
Well the answer to that isn’t actually as straight forward as you might think it is. According to the Taiwan Ministry of Education’s 2004 Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (異體字字典, Yìtǐzì zìdiǎn) the figure is 106,230!!
However, most modern-day dictionaries commonly have around 20,000 characters.
For example, the Modern Chinese Language Dictionary (現代漢語詞典 xiàndài hànyǔ cídiǎn) has 12,500 characters.
Are you really expected to learn that many characters!?
The answer is no.
In fact, it’s estimated that you only need to know around 3,000 characters to be able to read most things. After you’ve studied this blog test your knowledge of the top 100 most common traditional Chinese Characters.
⬇️⬇️⬇️ Top 100 Traditional Chinese Characters Quiz ⬇️⬇️⬇️
In 2013 the Chinese government published a list of 3,500 essential characters which is the minimum that Chinese school children are expected to learn.
If this is starting to feel a little overwhelming then relax!
Characters are actually made up of a varying amount of Chinese radicals, so once you’ve become familiar with these it’ll begin to get easier to recognise characters.
For daily life such as ordering food, going shopping and asking for directions, you can actually get by knowing around 500-750 characters. So, take it one step at a time.
So, speaking of small steps a good place to begin is learning our list of the 100 most common Traditional Chinese characters.
Chinese Characters List || 1-10
Chinese Characters List || 11-20
Chinese Characters List || 21-30
Chinese Characters List || 31-40
Chinese Characters List || 41-50
Chinese Characters List || 51-60
Chinese Characters List || 61-70
Chinese Characters List || 71-80
Chinese Characters List || 81-90
Chinese Characters List || 91-100
BONUS || Common Chinese Characters Posters
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 1-10
Now, if you’re also familiar with simplified Chinese you might actually notice that the top 10 most common traditional Chinese characters are written exactly the same as their simplified counterpart.
In fact, only around a quarter of the characters on this list differ from the simplified version.
It’s probable that when simplified Chinese was first developed they decided to keep many of the most common characters the same to make things easier.
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 的 | 的 | de | grammatical particle marking possession |
| 一 | 一 | yī | one |
| 是 | 是 | shì | to be |
| 不 | 不 | bù | not, negative |
| 了 | 了 | le | verb particle marking past tense, completed action, change in condition. |
| 人 | 人 | rén | person |
| 我 | 我 | wǒ | I |
| 在 | 在 | zài | at, located at |
| 有 | 有 | yǒu | have, there is |
| 他 | 他 | tā | he |
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 11-20
With our next 10 characters, we get our first variations from the simplified version.
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 這 | 这 | zhè | this |
| 中 | 中 | zhōng | middle |
| 大 | 大 | dà | big |
| 來 | 来 | lái | come |
| 上 | 上 | shàng | above, on, over/last, previous |
| 國 | 国 | guó | country |
| 個 | 个 | gè | general quantifier |
| 到 | 到 | dào | to, towards, until, arrive |
| 說 | 说 | shuō | speak, say |
| 們 | 们 | men | pluralize nouns referring to people |
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 21-30
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 為 | 为 | wèi | in order to, for the purpose of… |
| 子 | 子 | zǐ | child |
| 和 | 和 | hé | together, with |
| 你 | 你 | nǐ | you |
| 地 | 地 | dì | earth, ground, place |
| 出 | 出 | chū | go out, come out |
| 道 | 道 | dào | way, path, way |
| 也 | 也 | yě | also, as well |
| 時 | 时 | shí | time period, season |
| 年 | 年 | nián | year |
Learn more about time in Chinese.
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 31-40
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 得 | 得 | de | to have to / adverbial particle |
| 就 | 就 | jiù | just, simply, right away |
| 那 | 那 | nà | that |
| 要 | 要 | yào | want, will do, need, important |
| 下 | 下 | xià | below, under, down / next |
| 以 | 以 | yǐ | because of, in order to / according to |
| 生 | 生 | shēng | give birth, life |
| 會 | 会 | huì | can, able, meet, party, society |
| 自 | 自 | zì | from, self |
| 著 | 着 | zhe | verb particle marking a progressive aspect (e.g. -ing) |
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 41-50
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 去 | 去 | qù | go, leave, depart |
| 之 | 之 | zhī | subordinator, go, leave for |
| 過 | 过 | guò | pass, cross, exceed |
| 家 | 家 | jiā | home, family |
| 學 | 学 | xué | study, learn |
| 對 | 对 | duì | correct, mutual, pair |
| 可 | 可 | kě | ~able, may, can |
| 她 | 她 | tā | she |
| 裡 | 里 | lǐ | neighborhood, half kilometer |
| 后 | 后 | hòu | queen |
Rooms at Home 🏠 A Complete Guide to Your House in Chinese
Put labels on things you see constantly in the house and learn the vocabulary for house in Chinese and every other daily object in this way.
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 51-60
Great, you’ve made it halfway already!!
Just another 50 to go and you’ll be one step closer to your Chinese learning goals!
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 小 | 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 麼 | 么 | me/mo | interrogative suffix |
| 心 | 心 | xīn | heart |
| 多 | 多 | duō | many, much, more |
| 天 | 天 | tiān | sky, heaven, god, day |
| 而 | 而 | ér | and, furthermore |
| 能 | 能 | néng | can, be able |
| 好 | 好 | hǎo | good |
| 都 | 都 | dōu | all |
| 然 | 然 | rán | correct, so, like that |
Want to learn more body parts in Chinese?
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 61-70
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 沒 | 沒 | méi | haven’t, there isn’t, no |
| 日 | 日 | rì | sun |
| 于 | 于 | yú | in, at, for, to, from, by, than |
| 起 | 起 | qǐ | rise, start |
| 還 | 还 | hái | still, yet |
| 發 | 发 | fā | deliver, develop, expand |
| 成 | 成 | chéng | accomplish, succeed / to become |
| 事 | 事 | shì | matter, thing, event, accident |
| 只 | 只 | zhǐ | only, just |
| 作 | 作 | zuò | do, make |
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 71-80
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 當 | 当 | dāng | serve as, act as |
| 想 | 想 | xiǎng | think, feel, want |
| 看 | 看 | kàn | see, look at |
| 文 | 文 | wén | language, literature |
| 無 | 无 | wú | without, have not |
| 開 | 开 | kāi | open |
| 手 | 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 十 | 十 | shí | ten |
| 用 | 用 | yòng | use |
| 主 | 主 | zhǔ | lord, master, live |
You might have noticed we’ve already had a couple of numbers included in this list of most common Traditional Chinese characters.
Learning how to recognise and write numbers in Chinese is also a really good thing to learn and get your head around early on.
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 81-90
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 行 | 行 | xíng | go, OK |
| 方 | 方 | fāng | side |
| 又 | 又 | yòu | again, both… and… |
| 如 | 如 | rú | like, as, as if |
| 前 | 前 | qián | in front, previous, first, former |
| 所 | 所 | suǒ | place |
| 本 | 本 | běn | basis, origin, edition |
| 見 | 见 | jiàn | appear to be, meet with |
| 經 | 经 | jīng | longitude |
| 頭 | 头 | tóu | head, top, first |
Traditional Chinese Characters List: 91-100
| Traditional Character | Simplified Character | Pinyin | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 面 | 面 | miàn | face, surface |
| 公 | 公 | gōng | public, official |
| 同 | 同 | tóng | same |
| 三 | 三 | sān | three |
| 已 | 已 | yǐ | stop, end |
| 老 | 老 | lǎo | old |
| 從 | 从 | cóng | from, through |
| 動 | 动 | dòng | move |
| 兩 | 两 | liǎng | two |
| 長 | 长 | cháng | long, length |
And there you have it, the 100 most common Traditional Chinese Characters full list!
Once you’ve learnt these you’ll start to recognise them everywhere, so it’s worthwhile to learn them to build a solid foundation.
Traditional Chinese Characters Quiz
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What is the difference between Taiwanese Mandarin and Standard Mandarin? What language do they speak in Taiwan? Your questions are all answered here.
Chinese Characters Posters
A special one here because we are giving you two posters for one. You can even get them free by simply sharing on your Facebook!
Traditional Chinese Characters List || FAQs
What is the most common Traditional Chinese character?
The most common traditional Chinese character is 的 (de) which is a grammatical particle.
What are the 10 most common Traditional Chinese characters?
The 10 most common traditional Chinese characters are 的，一，是，不，了，人，我，在，有，他。
How long does it take to learn the 100 most common Traditional Chinese characters?
If you take Chinese classes you’ll definitely make quick progress in learning the 100 most common Traditional Chinese characters.
Are all simplified and traditional character different?
Only around a quarter of the characters on this list differ from the simplified version.
Where is best to learn Traditional Chinese?
Traditional Chinese is used in Taiwan and Hong Kong but as Cantonese is used mainly in Hong Kong, Taiwan is without doubt the best place to learn Traditional Chinese.
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10 comments
I got the full 100%!!!! So hyped
Go on CJ!!
So many are the same, should I learn both?
Your choice Coleman, Simplified is always a good starting point but there’s no harm trying to learn both as you go. Pleco will help you here.
Every one right in the quiz
The boss!
Traditional are way more beautiful, just sayin
😃
How do you know the orientation of the symbols if not in a definable context? e.g. Makers Marks on the bottom of a cylindrical brass bowl? To me the symbols could be read from any of 4 positions.
[…] BONUS || Do you know the 100 most commonly used Chinese characters? Check them out here. […]