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心里 (xīn lǐ) — in one's heart; in one's mind (referring to inner feelings or thoughts)

Definition

心里 points to one's inner feelings or thoughts ("in one's heart/mind"). It is more about what's going on inside than 心 (the organ) or 内心 (one's innermost being as a self).

noun
in one's heartin one's mind (referring to inner feelings or thoughts)
Easily confused

Examples

  • 。
    Wǒ bǎ nǐ de huà jì zài xīn lǐ.
    I'll keep your words in my heart.
  • 心里。
    Wǒ xīn lǐ hěn nán guò.
    I feel very sad in my heart.
  • 心里？
    Nǐ xīn lǐ zài xiǎng shén me?
    What are you thinking in your mind?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

心xīnheart
里lǐinside

心 points to the heart or mind, and 里 adds inside, giving the inner place of feelings or thoughts.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ裡lǐ
Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

Open 里 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3Emotions & FeelingsThinking & Cognition2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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