里 (lǐ): lining, interior, inside, internal, also written 裏|里[li3]
里 (lǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “lining.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 田 (structural) and 土 (structural). It ranks #50 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 里 unit of measure for farm 田 land 土. Its radical form 里 (village) appears in many related characters such as 重 (chóng, to repeat), 量 (liàng, capacity), 野 (yě, field).
Definitions
- lining
- interior
- inside
- internal
- also written 裏|里[li3]
Etymology & Origin
ideographicUnit of measure for farm 田 land 土
Decomposition: ⿱田土 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 里 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 里
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 这里pronoun | zhè lǐ | variant of 這裡|这里[zhe4 li3] | 1 |
| 那里pronoun | nà li | there | 1 |
| 哪里pronoun | nǎ lǐ | where? | 1 |
| 里面noun | lǐ miàn | variant of 裡面|里面[li3 mian4] | 2 |
| 心里 | xīn li | chest | 3 |
| 公里measure | gōng lǐ | kilometer | 4 |
| 里头noun | lǐ tou | inside | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家里 | jiā lǐ | home |
| 英里 | yīng lǐ | mile (unit of length equal to 1.609 km) |
| 手里 | shǒu lǐ | in hand |
| 嘴里 | zuǐ lǐ | mouth |
| 哈里 | hā lǐ | Harry or Hari (name) |
| 夜里 | yè li | during the night |
| 加里 | jiā lǐ | potassium (loanword) |
| 拉里 | lā lǐ | lari (currency of Georgia) (loanword) |
| 海里 | hǎi lǐ | nautical mile |
| 巴里 | bā lǐ | Bari (Puglia, Italy) |
| 阿里 | ā lǐ | (name) Ali |
| 怀里 | huái lǐ | embrace |
| 市里 | shì lǐ | li (Chinese unit of length equal to 500 meters) |
| 里昂 | lǐ áng | Lyon, French city on the Rhône |
| 里边 | lǐ bian | inside |
里 appears in 100 compound words: 26 as the first character, 62 as the last, and 12 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 里 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (44)
to not know the inside story; to be unfamiliar with the details of the situation
to make light of travelling from afar; to go to the trouble of travelling a long distance
to not know the inside story; to be unfamiliar with the details of the situation
to not know the inside story; to be unfamiliar with the details of the situation
to make light of travelling from afar; to go to the trouble of travelling a long distance
Showing 12 of 44 idioms containing 里.
Example Sentences
这家餐厅藏在巷子里，虽然位置偏僻，但生意一直很好。
Zhè jiā cāntīng cáng zài xiàngzi lǐ, suīrán wèizhi piānpì, dàn shēngyì yīzhí hěn hǎo.
This restaurant is hidden in an alley. Although the location is remote, business has always been good.
这届年轻人的消费,要花在“心窝”里
zhè jiè nián qīng rén de xiāo fèi , yāo huā zài xīn wō lǐ
This generation of young people will spend in their hearts.
(新春走基层)从塔里木河到钱塘江:一颗“石榴籽”的..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng cóng tǎ lǐ mù hé dào qián táng jiāng yī kē shí 榴 籽 de . .
(Spring Festival Grassroots Report) From the Tarim River to the Qiantang River: The Journey of a "Pomegranate Seed"
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!杭州..
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! háng zhōu . .
A man in Zhejiang took a bath in an iron pot with a fire burning underneath—one after another! Hangzhou...
冬奥会|冬季两项男子4X7.5公里接力:法国队逆转..
dōng ào huì dōng jì liǎng xiàng nán zǐ . gōng lǐ jiē lì fǎ guó duì nì zhuǎn . .
Winter Olympics | Biathlon Men's 4x7.5km Relay: France Stages Comeback...
...风三地书 2026福建省春节联欢晚会绘万里风..
. . . fēng sān dì shū fú jiàn shěng chūn jié lián huān wǎn huì huì mò lǐ fēng . .
Wind Across Three Lands 2026 Fujian Spring Festival Gala: Painting Ten Thousand Miles of Wind...
你好！你还在那里吗？
Nǐhǎo! nǐ hái zài nàli ma?
Hello! Are you still there?
我能在这里拍照吗？
Wǒ néng zài zhèlǐ pāizhào ma?
Can I take pictures here?
他来这里的目的是什么？
Tā lái zhèlǐ de mùdì shì shénme?
For what purpose did he come here?
这城里有没有博物馆？
Zhè chéng lǐ yǒuméiyǒu bówùguǎn?
Is there a museum in this town?
Character Family
里 Radical Family — Characters sharing the village radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 里 (lǐ) mean in Chinese?
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What are common words containing 里?
What characters sound the same as 里 (lǐ)?
Is 里 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 里 with real-time feedback
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