Meaning
reason; logic; science; inner principle or structure
Chinese: 道理、整理或管理。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “li” becomes a different word in each tone. 理 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 经理jīng lǐmanager; director
- 道理dào lireason; argument; sense; principle
- 理想lǐ xiǎngan ideal; a dream; ideal; perfect
- 处理chǔ lǐto handle; to deal with; to punish; to treat sth by a special process
- 理解lǐ jiěto comprehend; to understand
Example Sentence
他说的话很有道理。Tā shuō de huà hěn yǒu dào lǐ.What he said makes a lot of sense.
他Tāhe说shuōto speak的deof话huàdialect很hěnvery有道理yǒu dào lǐto make sense。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Jade (王, the form of 玉) plus 里 (sound): to work jade along its veins — ‘to put in order, manage; reason, logic; texture, grain’.
A way to remember it
Working jade (王) along its grain — to put in order, reason.
Easy to confuse with
- 里‘Inside / li’: the sound part of 理, on its own.