有理 (yǒu lǐ) — to be reasonable, to be justified, to be in the right

Definition

有理 (yǒu) means 'to be reasonable / in the right' — used to judge an argument or point of view. As a set phrase 有理有据 pairs reasoning with evidence.

verb
to be reasonableto be justifiedto be in the right
Easily confused

Examples

  • 有理。
    Nǐ shuō dé hěn yǒu yǒu lǐ.
    What you say is very reasonable.
  • ，有理。
    Zài zhè diǎn shàng, tā wán quán yǒu yǒu lǐ.
    On this point, she is completely in the right.
  • ？
    Nǐ zhè yàng shuō yǒu shén me lǐ?
    What reason is there in saying that?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

有yǒuhave
理lǐreason

有 conveys having, and 理 conveys reason, so the position is supported by sound reasoning.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ理lǐ
Same sound today

理 pairs 玉 (jade) with 里, which shows how to say it; the jade part points to the old sense of polishing jade.

Open 理 →

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