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里lǐinside; interior

HSK 1word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

里 (lǐ) means "inside" or "interior." After a place word it marks the inside of that place, as in 房间里 "in the room" or 在学校里 "at/in school." Pair it with 在 as 在 + Place + 里 for location. This entry is the locality sense, not the surname Li or the old length measure.

What does 里 mean?

  1. 1.

    inside; interiornoun

What does the character 里 mean?

  • 里inside; interior

How do you use 里?

Grammar patterns

  1. 1

    在 + Location + 里

    Put 里 after a place to mean "inside" that place. English "in the room" is 在房间里 in Chinese.

里 often follows a place word for "inside"; with cities or countries, use 在 + place alone and do not add 里.

Patterns

  • 在 + Place + 里

    我在房间里。

    Wǒ zài fángjiān lǐ.

    I'm in the room.

  • Place + 里

    学校里有书。

    Xuéxiào lǐ yǒu shū.

    There are books in the school.

What are some examples of 里 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    书在房间里。

    Shū zài fángjiān lǐ.

    The book is in the room.

  2. HSK 1

    他在学校里。

    Tā zài xuéxiào lǐ.

    He is in the school.

  3. HSK 1

    我在房间里看书。

    Wǒ zài fángjiān lǐ kàn shū.

    I'm reading in the room.

  4. HSK 1

    水在房间里吗？

    Shuǐ zài fángjiān lǐ ma?

    Is the water in the room?

How is 里 different from 上?

里 marks inside an enclosed place. 上 marks on or above a surface. A book in a room takes 里; a book on a table takes 上.

Only 里 fits here

书在房间里。

Shū zài fángjiān lǐ.

The book is in the room.

How is 里 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    书在哪儿？

    Shū zài nǎr?

    Where is the book?

  2. Speaker B:

    书在房间里。

    Shū zài fángjiān lǐ.

    The book is in the room.

  3. Speaker A:

    他在学校里吗？

    Tā zài xuéxiào lǐ ma?

    Is he in the school?

  4. Speaker B:

    在，他在学校里看书。

    Zài, tā zài xuéxiào lǐ kàn shū.

    Yes, he's reading in the school.

  5. Speaker A:

    水在房间里吗？

    Shuǐ zài fángjiān lǐ ma?

    Is the water in the room?

  6. Speaker B:

    在房间里。

    Zài fángjiān lǐ.

    It's in the room.

Can you use 里 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 书在房间___。
  2. 2.Which sentence means "He is in the school"?
  3. 3.Fill in the blank: 我在房间___看书。

What should you learn next?

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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.