Official Syllabus Task

HSK 4 交流家庭生活情况 — Family Life

Discuss home life, family relationships, growing up, habits, and household affairs. Includes topics like parent-child relationships and hometown memories.

22
Words
4
Skills Tested
Listening Speaking Reading Writing

Official Syllabus Requirement / 大纲要求

能听懂关于居家生活、家庭关系、成长过程、生活习惯、家庭事务等有一定复杂度的问题。

Scenario Dialogue / 情景对话

A couple divides up the housework. Read it aloud twice: once for meaning, once for fluency — the syllabus tests this task across listening and speaking.

A
今天家里要大扫除,咱们分一下工吧。
Jīntiān jiāli yào dàsǎochú, zánmen fēn yíxià gōng ba.
We are doing a big clean-up today — let's divide the chores.
B
行,我负责擦窗户和拖地,你来收拾厨房怎么样?
Xíng, wǒ fùzé cā chuānghu hé tuō dì, nǐ lái shōushi chúfáng zěnmeyàng?
OK, I will do the windows and mop the floor; how about you tidy the kitchen?
A
没问题。对了,妈妈周末要来,得把客房的床单换了。
Méi wèntí. Duì le, māma zhōumò yào lái, děi bǎ kèfáng de chuángdān huàn le.
No problem. Oh, Mom is coming this weekend — we need to change the sheets in the guest room.
B
我来换。晚上想吃什么?我去买菜。
Wǒ lái huàn. Wǎnshang xiǎng chī shénme? Wǒ qù mǎi cài.
I will change them. What do you want for dinner? I will go grocery shopping.
A
做个鱼吧,妈妈爱吃。家务做完我们早点儿休息。
Zuò ge yú ba, māma ài chī. Jiāwù zuò wán wǒmen zǎodiǎnr xiūxi.
Let's make fish — Mom loves it. Once the chores are done we can rest early.

Why HSK 4 Candidates Struggle with Family Life

Discuss home life, family relationships, growing up, habits, and household affairs. Includes topics like parent-child relationships and hometown memories.

The biggest challenge for HSK 4 candidates on the family life topic isn't memorizing the 22 core words — it's understanding how they combine in extended contexts. HSK 4 family life questions typically require you to understand cause and effect, opinion shifts, or comparative judgements, not just basic vocabulary recognition.

Key vocabulary to anchor your understanding: 儿童 (értóng, child), 父母 (fùmǔ, parents), 父女 (fùnǚ, father and daughter), 父亲 (fùqīn, father). These words frequently appear in HSK 4 listening dialogues (听力) and reading passages (阅读), often with grammar patterns like complex-sentences and pivotal-sentences.

Related Grammar Patterns / 相关语法

These grammar points are commonly tested in family life contexts:

complex-sentences pivotal-sentences

Core Vocabulary / 核心词汇 (22 words)

WordPinyinMeaningExample
儿童 értóng child; children 这是一部儿童电影。
父母 fùmǔ parents; father and mother 父母总是担心孩子的安全。
父女 fùnǚ father and daughter 他们是一对父女。
父亲 fùqīn father 我的父亲是一名工程师。
父子 fùzǐ father and son 这对父子长得很像。
家庭 jiātíng family; household 她有一个幸福的家庭。
家乡 jiāxiāng hometown; home village 他非常想念自己的家乡。
家长 jiāzhǎng parent; guardian 家长会在周五下午举行。
老家 lǎojiā hometown; native place 他每年过年都回老家。
母女 mǔnǚ mother and daughter 那对母女长得很像。
母亲 mǔqīn mother 母亲的爱是最伟大的。
母子 mǔzǐ mother and son 这对母子关系很好。
亲戚 qīnqi relative; relation 过年的时候要去拜访亲戚。
日常 rìcháng daily; everyday; routine 运动是他日常生活的一部分。
生1 shēng to give birth; to be born 姐姐生了一个可爱的宝宝。
孙女 sūnnǚ granddaughter 爷爷最疼爱他的孙女。
孙子 sūnzi grandson 奶奶带着孙子去公园了。
童年 tóngnián childhood 他在农村度过了快乐的童年。
兄弟 xiōngdì brothers 他们兄弟的感情很好。
养成 yǎngchéng to cultivate; to develop (habits) 我们要养成良好的学习习惯。
早晨 zǎochen early morning; morning 早晨的空气特别好。
偶尔 ǒu'ěr occasionally; once in a while 我偶尔会去公园跑步。

Vocabulary Quiz / 词汇练习

Match the Chinese word to its English meaning.

生1 shēng
母女 mǔnǚ
日常 rìcháng
童年 tóngnián
偶尔 ǒu'ěr
Study All HSK 4 Vocabulary Take a Mock Exam Confusable Words

Real HSK 4 Questions on Family Life / 真题示例

Below are 1-3 actual HSK 4 family life questions from our 19 mock exams. Each was solved using the vocabulary above:

From HSK 4 Mock Test 04 · Q79 · 阅读 Reading
教育孩子要使用正确的方法。首先,不要用"懒""笨""粗心"这种词批评孩子,这样很容易让他们相信自己就是那样的,于是限制了他们正常的发展。其次,即使是出于教育的目的,也千万不能骗孩子,因为儿童缺少判断能力,看到父母骗人,他们也会学着说假话。★ 批评孩子懒、笨、粗心,会让孩子:
A 说假话B 缺少判断力C 发展受到限制 ✓D 不敢相信任何人
From HSK 4 Mock Test 04 · Q80 · 阅读 Reading
教育孩子要使用正确的方法。首先,不要用"懒""笨""粗心"这种词批评孩子,这样很容易让他们相信自己就是那样的,于是限制了他们正常的发展。其次,即使是出于教育的目的,也千万不能骗孩子,因为儿童缺少判断能力,看到父母骗人,他们也会学着说假话。★ 这段话主要讲怎样正确:
A 批评孩子B 教育孩子 ✓C 照顾孩子D 帮助孩子
From HSK 4 Mock Test 12 · Q81 · 阅读 Reading
表扬也是一门艺术。怎样表扬孩子才会更有效呢?一是表扬要及时,及时的表扬比迟到的表扬更有效果;其次,表扬不仅要看结果,还要看过程,如果孩子好心"却办了"坏事",父母也要表扬他的"好心",鼓励他的积极性;第三,表扬还不能太多,过多的表扬可能会给孩子带来压力。★ 这段话主要谈什么?"
A 学校教育B 父亲的烦恼C 表扬和批评D 表扬要注意什么 ✓

Family Life FAQ / 常见问题

How many HSK 4 words cover family life?

The HSK 4 official syllabus has 22 core words specifically for the family life task scenario. These come from 1 sub-topic categories: family. Mastering these 22 words gives you 70-80% comprehension on family life-themed questions in HSK 4.

Which HSK 4 grammar points are most relevant to family life?

complex-sentences and pivotal-sentences appear most frequently in family life contexts. The HSK 4 syllabus expects you to not only understand but also produce these patterns when they involve family life vocabulary.

What's the difference between HSK 3 and HSK 4 expectations on family life?

HSK 3 expects simple statements about family life (e.g., basic facts and short descriptions). HSK 4 raises the bar to "有一定复杂度" — handling extended contexts with opinions, comparisons, and reasoning. You'll need to express feelings (感受) and views (看法) about family life, not just describe them.

Practice This HSK 4 Topic

Test your knowledge of family life vocabulary in context:

Mock Test 01 Mock Test 03 Mock Test 06 Sentence Ordering

Apply This HSK 4 Vocabulary on Test Day

Family Life vocabulary appears in HSK 4 listening dialogues, reading passages, and the writing section. These resources turn the words you learned above into test points:

⚡ Strategy
HSK 4 listening dialog tactics
⚡ Strategy
HSK 4 reading comprehension
📝 Patterns
100 essential HSK 4 sentences
🔍 Confusables
43 HSK 4 confusable pairs
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