Meaning
inside; internal; interior; village; within; inside
Chinese: 里面，也可作长度单位。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “li” becomes a different word in each tone. 里 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
- 这里zhè lǐhere
- 哪里nǎ lǐwhere?; somewhere; anywhere; wherever
- 那里nà lithere; that place
- 家里jiā lǐhome
- 里边lǐ bianinside
Example Sentence
房间里很安静。Fáng jiān lǐ hěn ān jìng.It is very quiet in the room.
房间Fáng jiānroom里lǐinside很hěnvery安静ān jìngquiet。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
田 (field) over 土 (earth): the settled land where people live — a ‘village; a unit of distance (about 500 m)’. In simplified Chinese it also covers 裏 ‘inside, lining’.
A way to remember it
Field over earth — a village; and ‘inside’.
Easy to confuse with
- 理‘Reason / manage’: 里 (sound) with jade 王 on the left.