Most Common Traditional Chinese Nouns: Free PDF + Quiz

Nouns are the bones of any sentence – without them, you can’t name the person you’re meeting, the food you’re craving, or the place you’re trying to find. This collection of around 1,000 common Traditional Chinese nouns gives you the building blocks for real conversations, not just textbook drills.

We skipped the dusty, outdated terms you’ll never use. Instead, every entry packs a straightforward meaning and a natural example sentence so you see exactly how the word behaves in the wild. Audio playback is built right in – tap to hear the pronunciation and give your ears a workout alongside your eyes.

Scroll at your own pace, test yourself as you go, and when you’re ready to take things offline, grab the free PDF just below the table. Think of it as your pocket reference for everything from daily chats to reading signs and menus.

Use this list as a starting point, then keep going in the Yak Yacker Traditional Chinese section for more words, phrases, and study-friendly reference pages.

Quick Quiz

Give the quick quiz below a try – it’s a low-pressure way to see which nouns have already stuck and which ones could use a little more love.

Browse the Full List

WordPinyinMeaningAudio
bīng
冰塊/冰塊兒bīngkuài/bīngkuàir
冰淇淋bīngqílín
冰箱bīngxiāngrefrigerator
冷氣(機)lěngqì(jī)air conditioning; cold air
出口chūkŏu
刀(子)dāo(zi)
刀叉dāochāknife and fork
chū
別人biérénother people
利益lìyì
前(面)qián(miàn)
前天qiántiānthe day before yesterday
前年qiánnián
前面qiánmiànfront, forward, before
劇情jùqíng
劇本jùběn
力量lìliàng
功夫gōngfu
功能gōngnéng
功課gōngkèschoolwork, homework
動物dòngwùanimal
動物園dòngwùyuánzoo
包子bāozisteamed pork bun

Free Traditional Chinese Vocab List and Flashcard PDFs to Download

Use the buttons below to download your free printable vocabulary resources — no signup required.