TOCFL Novice 1 words

Taught in CiaoSpeak units pitched at TOCFL Novice 1.

  • 謝謝 xiè xie — thank you
  • 阿嬤 ā mà — grandma (casual)
  • 今天 jīn tiān — today
  • 明天 míng tiān — tomorrow
  • 走 zǒu — to walk
  • 坐 zuò — to sit
  • 家 jiā — home / family

TOCFL Novice 2 words

Taught in CiaoSpeak units pitched at TOCFL Novice 2.

  • 沒關係 méi guān xi — no problem / it's okay
  • 等一下 děng yí xià — wait a moment / hold on
  • 欸 éi — hey! / oh! (getting attention or reacting)
  • 對 duì — right / correct
  • 我 wǒ — I / me
  • 你 nǐ — you
  • 他 tā — he / him
  • 她 tā — she / her
  • 那 nà — that
  • 有 yǒu — to have
  • 要 yào — to want
  • 來 lái — to come
  • 吃 chī — to eat
  • 什麼 shén me — what
  • 誰 shéi — who
  • 大家 dà jiā — everyone
  • 自己 zì jǐ — oneself / myself
  • 說 shuō — to speak
  • 買 mǎi — to buy
  • 我們 wǒ men — we / us
  • 會 huì — can / know how to
  • 是 shì — to be / am / is / are
  • 嗎 ma — question particle (turns a statement into a yes/no question)
  • 很 hěn — very (also just marks an adjective as the sentence's predicate)
  • 去 qù — to go
  • 了 le — completed-action marker (goes right after the verb)
  • 在 zài — at / in (marks where someone or something is)
  • 都 dōu — all / both
  • 還 hái — still / also

TOCFL Band A words

Taught in CiaoSpeak units pitched at TOCFL Band A.

  • 沒有 méi yǒu — to not have; also used in comparisons (not as … as)
  • 跟 gēn — with / and
  • 也 yě — also / too
  • 晚上 wǎn shang — evening / night
  • 先 xiān — first
  • 問 wèn — to ask
  • 發票 fā piào — receipt (in Taiwan, also a lottery ticket)
  • 好吃 hǎo chī — tasty (food)
  • 派對 pài duì — party
  • 郵局 yóu jú — post office
  • 現在 xiàn zài — now

TOCFL Band B words

Taught in CiaoSpeak units pitched at TOCFL Band B.

  • 就 jiù — then
  • 可是 kě shì — but / however (casual)
  • 決定 jué dìng — to decide

Looking for the official list instead? The TOCFL vocabulary list has all 7,517 official words by level. New to TOCFL? Start with the TOCFL guide.