Chinese word

里

Pronunciation

Pinyinlǐ

Meaning

  • nounin

Example

蛋糕就在冰箱里。dàn gāo jiù zài bīng xiāng lǐ

The cake is in the refrigerator.

Illustration for 里 (in)

More examples

口袋里有一张纸。kǒu dài lǐ yǒu yì zhāng zhǐ

There is a piece of paper in the pocket.

Core concept

A boundary encloses a space, and this word marks the part enclosed by it.

Common phrases

  • 口袋里kǒu dài lǐ

    in the pocket

  • 鞋子里xié zi lǐ

    in the shoe

Similar words

里面lǐ miàn: The inner part of a place or thing, within its boundaries.
中间zhōng jiān: A position in the middle of two or more things.

Definition in Chinese

表示处于某一界限之内或某个范围中，作方位词时表示在…里面的方位关系。biǎo shì chǔ yú mǒu yí jiè xiàn zhī nèi huò mǒu gè fàn wéi zhōng zuò fāng wèi cí shí biǎo shì zài lǐ miàn de fāng wèi guān xì

Word origin

里 (lǐ, "inside") was also used for an area or settlement, and the idea of an area's inner part led to its use for an object's location.

Usage tips

  • The target word usually follows the noun naming the place, not the noun naming the object located there, which helps keep Chinese word order clear.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word