How the HSK Text Analyzer Works
The HSK text analyzer follows a simple but powerful process: paste, segment, match, highlight, and summarize. You start by pasting a Chinese passage into the text box. The tool then reads the passage character by character and splits it into words using a built-in HSK 3.0 vocabulary dictionary. Because Chinese writing does not use spaces between words, this segmentation step is the heart of the analyzer. The dictionary contains hundreds of real HSK 1-9 words, each tagged with its level, pinyin, and meaning, so the tool can recognize words it has seen before.
The analyzer uses a longest-match strategy. At every position in the text, it tries the longest dictionary word that begins at that position before trying shorter words. This keeps the breakdown close to the way native speakers understand the sentence. Words that are not in the dictionary, including punctuation and rare characters, are treated as unknown and shown in gray.
Once segmentation is complete, the analyzer colors every matched word according to its HSK 3.0 level. HSK 1 words are green, HSK 2 blue, HSK 3 teal, HSK 4 amber, HSK 5 orange, HSK 6 red, HSK 7 pink, HSK 8 purple, and HSK 9 deep red. Unknown characters stay gray. The result is a color map of the passage that makes difficult vocabulary visible at a glance. You can scan the text and immediately see whether it is beginner-friendly or full of advanced words.
Below the highlighted text, the analyzer calculates a set of useful statistics. Total words counts every vocabulary item matched in the text. Unique words counts how many different words appear. The level table shows how many words belong to each HSK level and what percentage of the total they represent. A simple bar chart turns those numbers into a visual distribution across HSK 1-9, and an estimated level summarizes the overall difficulty of the passage.
The color legend works as a quick reading guide. Green, blue, and teal blocks are Beginner words (HSK 1-3), so a passage with many of them is a comfortable read for new learners. Amber, orange, and red blocks signal Intermediate vocabulary (HSK 4-6) that usually appears in news, work, and everyday media. Pink, purple, and deep red blocks mark Advanced words (HSK 7-9), and they are the reason a short passage can still feel difficult.
Unknown characters deserve a special mention. Some of them are punctuation marks, which the analyzer deliberately leaves gray because they carry no HSK vocabulary level. Others are characters that appear in the text but are not yet in the dictionary. If you see many gray characters inside real words, the text may use specialized terms, names, or vocabulary beyond the current list. That signal is still useful: it tells you the passage is not fully covered by the seed dictionary, which is common in academic and technical writing.
The whole process is instant and private. There is no backend server, no upload, and no account. Everything runs locally in your browser, which means your text never leaves your device. You can analyze the same passage as many times as you like, compare different articles, or test your own writing to see which HSK level it fits.
HSK Level Breakdown
The HSK, or Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, is the Chinese Proficiency Test used by schools, employers, and learners around the world. The HSK 3.0 standard, published by the Ministry of Education of China, divides proficiency into nine levels arranged in three bands. Beginner levels 1-3 cover the foundation of daily communication, Intermediate levels 4-6 cover news, work, and study topics, and Advanced levels 7-9 cover academic and professional Chinese.
The table below shows the official cumulative vocabulary targets from the HSK 3.0 standard (GF0025-2021) and what learners at each level can typically do.
| HSK Level | Band | Vocabulary | What learners can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| HSK 1 | Beginner | 500 words | Greet people, introduce yourself, and handle very basic daily phrases. |
| HSK 2 | Beginner | 1,272 cumulative | Communicate about daily routines, shopping, and simple personal topics. |
| HSK 3 | Beginner | 2,245 cumulative | Handle common conversations, travel situations, and simple work exchanges. |
| HSK 4 | Intermediate | 3,245 cumulative | Discuss news, work, studies, and everyday abstract topics. |
| HSK 5 | Intermediate | 4,316 cumulative | Read articles and express opinions on complex subjects. |
| HSK 6 | Intermediate | 5,456 cumulative | Read academic and professional Chinese with confidence. |
| HSK 7-9 | Advanced | 11,092 cumulative | Use advanced academic and professional Chinese across all skills. |
The cumulative numbers come from the official HSK 3.0 word list: 500 words by HSK 1, 1,272 by HSK 2, 2,245 by HSK 3, 3,245 by HSK 4, 4,316 by HSK 5, 5,456 by HSK 6, and 11,092 across the shared HSK 7-9 band. The vocabulary sizes tell a clear story: the gap between HSK 3 and HSK 4 is large, and the gap between HSK 6 and the 7-9 band is even larger.
The first three levels build a practical foundation: greetings, numbers, family, food, travel, and simple conversations. From HSK 4 onward, learners begin to read about ideas rather than only about concrete daily life. HSK 5 words appear constantly in news, business writing, and everyday media. HSK 6 words are precise, formal, and often academic. Levels 7-9 add the specialized, professional, and literary vocabulary used in higher education and expert settings.
The estimated level shown by the analyzer groups the nine levels into the three official bands. If most matched words are Beginner (HSK 1-3), the estimate is Around HSK 3. If Intermediate words (HSK 4-6) dominate, the estimate is Around HSK 4-6. If Advanced words (HSK 7-9) make up a significant share, the estimate is Around HSK 7+. The estimate is designed to be conservative and practical, not to replace a real placement test.
The bar chart adds another layer of reading guidance. A tall green bar with a small amber bar tells you the text is beginner-friendly. A balanced spread across HSK 3-5 suggests the text will push an intermediate reader. A chart with visible pink, purple, and deep red bars warns you that advanced vocabulary will slow you down. Comparing the bars of two texts is the fastest way to decide which one to read first.
A note on versions: the revised HSK exam syllabus released in 2025 adjusted the lower-level word counts (roughly 300, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,600, and 5,400 cumulative words for HSK 1-6, with about 11,000 for the shared 7-9 syllabus). The analyzer labels words using the official GF0025-2021 list, which remains the reference vocabulary for the nine-level system.
Why Use a Free HSK Text Analyzer
Find your reading level. The most practical use of the analyzer is measuring whether a text is too easy, too hard, or just right for you. If a passage is mostly HSK 1-3 vocabulary, it is ideal for a beginner. If HSK 4-6 words dominate, the text will challenge an intermediate learner. Matching your reading to your level keeps study efficient and reduces frustration.
Choose graded readers with confidence. Teachers and self-learners can compare candidate readings before buying them. Paste a few pages into the analyzer and check the distribution. A good graded reader should stay close to its stated level, with a small number of unknown words that create a useful learning challenge.
Track progress over time. Because the analyzer always uses the same vocabulary dictionary, you can re-analyze the same text weeks or months later and see how much of it you now understand. As your vocabulary grows, the share of unknown and high-level words will change, giving you measurable proof of progress.
Prepare for exam reading sections. HSK reading questions require you to read passages quickly and answer comprehension questions. If you are training for the reading part of the exam, use the analyzer to select practice texts at your target level, then gradually move to texts with a higher vocabulary distribution. This builds the reading stamina that the real test demands.
Analyze your own writing too. If you are practicing Chinese composition, paste your draft into the analyzer to see which level your active vocabulary reaches. You can also compare your draft with a native model text: the color maps will show which words you avoided and which higher-level words a more experienced writer would use.
The analyzer also works as a quick research tool. Paste a few paragraphs from a textbook, a news site, or a social media post and compare their distributions. You will quickly learn which types of writing use more advanced vocabulary and which ones stay close to everyday Chinese.
Prepare teaching materials. Teachers can quickly check classroom handouts, exam practice passages, and homework texts. Knowing the vocabulary profile of a text helps you pre-teach difficult words, choose suitable readings for different students, and design exercises that match the current HSK level of your class.
The analyzer is fast, free, and unlimited. There is no sign-up, no paywall, and no limit on the number of texts you can analyze. For learners who want to read more Chinese without guessing at difficulty, the HSK text analyzer turns any passage into a clear, level-based map that supports better study decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an HSK text analyzer?+
An HSK text analyzer is a tool that reads a Chinese passage and identifies which HSK levels its vocabulary belongs to. It segments the text into words, matches them against HSK 1-9 word lists, and shows the result with colors and statistics. Learners use it to judge text difficulty, choose suitable reading material, and track their vocabulary progress over time. It works with any Chinese passage: news, stories, messages, or textbook chapters.
How accurate is the HSK text analyzer?+
The analyzer is accurate for vocabulary matching because it uses a fixed dictionary of HSK 3.0 words and a longest-match segmentation strategy. However, it is not a perfect language parser: some words have multiple meanings, and a few characters can be segmented differently in different contexts. The estimated level is based on word distribution rather than grammar or comprehension, so treat the result as a helpful guide instead of an official HSK score. For selecting reading material, the estimate is usually accurate enough to be genuinely useful.
What are the 9 HSK levels?+
The HSK 3.0 standard divides Chinese proficiency into nine levels grouped into three bands: Beginner (HSK 1-3), Intermediate (HSK 4-6), and Advanced (HSK 7-9). HSK 1-6 each have a separate exam, while HSK 7-9 share one advanced exam and syllabus. The levels build on each other, so a strong HSK 3 learner can already recognize most HSK 1-2 words.
Is the HSK text analyzer free?+
Yes. The analyzer is completely free and runs entirely in your browser, so there is no account, no payment, and no limit on usage. Paste any Chinese text and you get an instant level breakdown, word statistics, and an estimated difficulty level. You can come back and analyze a new text whenever you need to.
Does it work on mobile?+
Yes. The page is mobile-first, so the text box, buttons, highlighted result, legend, and charts all adapt to phone and tablet screens. Paste text, press Analyze, and the color-coded breakdown works exactly the same way as on a desktop computer. The highlighted text is also easy to zoom on small screens.