How do you write li in Chinese?

It depends which li you mean. to leave, to be apart, away from is 离 (lí), inside, within; Chinese mile is 里 (lǐ), principle, reason, to manage, texture is 理 (lǐ). Pick the character by the tone and the meaning you intend.

li appears in 3 different tones depending on the character, which is why the tone mark matters: lí (离), lǐ (里), lǐ (理), lǐ (礼).

Pinyin · 拼音 pīnyīn

li

Q: What Chinese characters are pronounced li?

6 characters on this site are read li: 离 (lí, to leave, to be apart, away from); 里 (lǐ, inside, within; Chinese mile); 理 (lǐ, principle, reason, to manage, texture); 礼 (lǐ, rites, ceremony, propriety); 力 (lì, strength, power, force, effort); 历 (lì, to experience, history, calendar). The tone mark and meaning tell them apart.

Every character on Jiǎoluò Shūwū read as li in any tone — 6 readings total across the four tones. Pick the tone you mean.

一 lī 1st · high level no entries yet

二 lí 2nd · rising 1 reading 三 lǐ 3rd · low / dipping 3 readings 四 lì 4th · falling 2 readings

If you have the sound li but not the character, here are the 6 characters read this way: 离 (lí, to leave, to be apart, away from), 里 (lǐ, inside, within; Chinese mile), 理 (lǐ, principle, reason, to manage, texture), 礼 (lǐ, rites, ceremony, propriety), 力 (lì, strength, power, force, effort). They split across 3 tones, so the tone is what separates them.

lí tone 2 · rising 1 reading

离 lí HSK 2

to leave, to be apart, away from

lǐ tone 3 · low / dipping 3 readings

里 lǐ HSK 1

inside, within; Chinese mile

理 lǐ HSK 2

principle, reason, to manage, texture

礼 lǐ HSK 4

rites, ceremony, propriety

lì tone 4 · falling 2 readings

力 lì HSK 2