MoS2 is a promising material for electrocatalysis and opens up avenues for the development of non-precious metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic media. However, the activity of MoS2 has been severely impeded because of its inferior conductivity. Herein, a nanoribbon-like MoS2/Mo3N2 hybrid is successfully fabricated via partial sulfidation of Mo3N2 in H2S atmosphere. The synergistic effect between the high intrinsic activity of MoS2 and the desirable conductivity of Mo3N2 contributes to the overpotential at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 (η10) of 196 mV towards hydrogen evolution, distinctively lower than Mo3N2 (467 mV) and MoS2 (293 mV). The theoretical simulation discloses that the Gibbs free-energy for the adsorption of atomic hydrogen (|ΔGH*|) for MoS2/Mo3N2 is less than that of others, and thus facilitating the hydrogen evolution. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim