对中国学生高考的要求，是5000。日常生活在3000以内。

HSK has guidlines. I'm pretty sure that if you want to take the entry level exam you don't need to know too many, maybe 500 but once you advance to the next stage you will need 1500-2000 to pass. If you want to learn to be a translator you need to know at least 5000 words. However, like has been mentioned above...to live in China comfortably, you should grasp at least 1000 characters and know how to speak around 2000.

i agree with forthspring.

i think maybe i know about 2000-3000 characters now but i often find it's not enough... i would feel better knowing about 5000. then i can stop looking up words hahaha the bad thing about that is those extra 2000 words are not as commonly used and u have to use them often or u will forget them haha

好好学习,天天向上