How to say “reason” in Chinese
reason, logic; pay attention (to)
“Reason” in Chinese is 理, lǐ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
理 is read lǐ. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 王 “jade”; on the right, 里 lǐ hints at the sound.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “理”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 理. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 王经理在办公室吗？WángjīnglǐzàibàngōngshìmaIs Manager Wang in his office?
- 经理正在开会jīnglǐzhèngzàikāihuìThe manager is in a meeting right now.
- 你应该告诉经理nǐyīnggāigàosujīnglǐYou should tell the manager.
- 这件事被经理发现了zhèjiànshìbèijīnglǐfāxiànleThe manager found out about it.
- 在经理看来这个办法不行zàijīnglǐkànlái,zhègebànfǎbùxíngIn the manager's view, this approach won't work.
- 你收到经理的邮件了吗？nǐshōudàojīnglǐdeyóujiànlemaDid you get the manager's email?
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “The truth, to your face”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “reason” in Chinese?
“Reason” in Chinese is 理, pinyin lǐ.
What does 理 mean?
理 (lǐ) means “reason, logic; pay attention (to)”.
How do you write 理?
理 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 理?
理 is read lǐ. Tones: lǐ — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“reason” in the lesson “The truth, to your face”
This word is from the topic “Talking and arguing” of HSK 6. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free