里
lǐ
- Pinyin
- lǐ
- Pinyin (Plain)
- li
- Tone
- 3
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 里
- Readings
- lǐliTone: 3variant of 裡|里[li3]Order: 0Primary
- Stroke Order Code
- Speed
- Stroke Order Data
- ["M 285 715 Q 266 724 245 727 Q 238 730 233 723 Q 226 716 236 706 Q 287 640 307 467 Q 314 407 355 377 Q 356 377 359 375 Q 377 372 377 401 L 372 437 Q 368 456 360 477 Q 333 618 325 678 C 322 699 313 703 285 715 Z", "M 628 430 Q 646 399 664 388 Q 674 378 694 402 Q 716 436 768 626 Q 781 662 809 689 Q 825 702 812 719 Q 796 740 748 772 Q 726 785 706 778 Q 663 768 604 761 Q 528 751 430 736 Q 351 723 285 715 C 255 711 296 670 325 678 Q 377 693 453 703 L 507 711 Q 568 721 644 729 Q 690 735 703 718 Q 719 696 715 675 Q 664 477 643 461 C 627 435 626 433 628 430 Z", "M 396 570 Q 378 566 400 550 Q 407 546 479 553 L 533 561 Q 579 568 621 574 Q 646 578 637 592 Q 627 608 599 613 Q 575 616 535 606 L 479 591 Q 436 581 396 570 Z", "M 530 422 Q 573 426 628 430 C 658 432 667 443 643 461 Q 618 486 531 464 L 478 453 Q 421 444 372 437 C 342 433 347 399 377 401 Q 383 401 390 402 Q 423 409 478 416 L 530 422 Z", "M 523 119 Q 524 183 526 242 L 527 293 Q 528 360 530 422 L 531 464 Q 532 515 533 561 L 535 606 Q 538 682 536 687 Q 523 700 507 711 C 483 729 441 731 453 703 Q 477 651 479 609 Q 479 600 479 591 L 479 553 Q 479 517 478 453 L 478 416 Q 477 359 475 282 L 474 234 Q 473 179 472 113 C 472 83 522 89 523 119 Z", "M 526 242 Q 691 273 697 277 Q 707 286 703 295 Q 696 308 665 317 Q 632 324 599 314 Q 563 304 527 293 L 475 282 Q 411 272 336 267 Q 296 263 324 243 Q 369 216 443 230 Q 456 233 474 234 L 526 242 Z", "M 472 113 Q 309 97 121 79 Q 94 78 113 55 Q 131 37 152 30 Q 179 23 199 28 Q 503 101 919 80 Q 920 81 923 80 Q 948 79 955 90 Q 962 105 942 122 Q 873 179 798 158 Q 690 140 523 119 L 472 113 Z"]
- Meaning
- The character “里” most commonly means “inside; within” and is used to talk about being in a place (e.g., 在家里 “at home,” 在心里 “in one’s heart”). It can also mean a traditional unit of distance (a “li,” about 500 meters), though this use is less common in everyday modern speech.
- Metadata
- Locale: enCached At: 5/9/2026, 2:27:28 AM
Usage
The character 里 (lǐ) is very common in modern Chinese and learners usually meet it first as a location-related word. On its own, 里 often means “inside” or “in,” as in 屋里 (wū lǐ, “inside the house”) or 心里 (xīn lǐ, “in one’s heart/mind”). In everyday speech it can overlap with 在…里 (“in/at”) and is used a lot in set phrases and short expressions, including 哪里 (nǎlǐ, “where”), 这里 (zhè lǐ, “here”), and 那里 (nà lǐ, “there”). It also appears in time-related phrases like 这里几天里 (“in these few days”) and abstract spaces like 梦里 (“in a dream”). Learners also encounter 里 as a measure word meaning “li,” a traditional Chinese unit of distance (historically variable, but now standardized at 500 meters in mainland usage). For instance, 三十里路 (sānshí lǐ lù) means “a 15‑kilometer road.” Beyond its standalone use, 里 is extremely common as a component in other characters and words such as 里 in 里边 / 里面 (“inside”), 理 (reason/principle), 里 in 乡里 (“village area”), and the Japanese ri in village names, so students often recognize it as a basic “place/inside” element in many compounds.
Handwriting Notes
里 is usually written as a compact rectangle, slightly taller than it is wide, with a “田-like” box on top and a horizontal line plus a short vertical line inside the lower part. In everyday handwriting, the outer box is often not a perfect square: corners may be a bit rounded, and lines can be slightly slanted, especially when written quickly. The inner lines may also be simplified—some people write the middle horizontal line a bit shorter, or let the lower inner vertical line curve slightly. Despite these personal variations and differences in neatness, the basic impression is always a box containing a grid-like structure, which makes the character visually distinctive. Handwritten forms can differ by script style (more squared and clear in standard/楷书, more flowing in running/行书), pen thickness, and individual habits, but as long as the box-and-grid structure is preserved, the character is easily recognizable. Modern AI handwriting recognition systems are trained on many such handwritten variants, so they can usually identify 里 correctly even when it is written quickly, a bit sloppily, or with personal stylistic quirks.
Description
里 is a common Chinese character meaning “inside,” “within,” or “in.” It is also used as a location marker in words like 家里 (at home) and 心里 (in one’s heart). In modern Chinese, it can additionally function as a noun meaning “village” or “neighborhood” in some contexts (e.g., 里弄 in Shanghai).
Common Words
- 里li3lining
- 里约Li3 yue1Rio
- 家里jia1 li3home
- 这里zhe4 li3here
- 里巷li3 xiang4lane
Example Sentences
我喜欢里。
wo3 xi3 huan5 li3
I like lining.
里约很常见。
Li3 yue1 hen3 chang2 jian4
里约 is very common.
我们在学习家里。
wo3 men5 zai4 xue2 xi2 jia1 li3
We are learning home.
这个这里很重要。
zhe4 ge5 zhe4 li3 hen3 zhong4 yao4
This here is important.
请写一下“里”。
qing3 xie3 yi1 xia4 li3
Please write '里'.