英里
yīnglǐ
The English word 'mile' is translated into Chinese as 英里 (yīnglǐ).
Meaning: measure of length (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term 英里 literally translates to 'English mile', where 英 refers to England/Britain and 里 is a traditional Chinese unit of distance.
Which one should you use?
While 英里 (yīnglǐ) specifically refers to the Western mile, the character 里 on its own refers to the traditional Chinese unit of distance (the 'li').
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
yīnglǐ
Did you know?
- The character 里 also means 'inside' or 'interior' when used as a preposition, though it is written with the same character as the unit of distance.
- Chinese speakers use the phrase 万里长城 to describe the Great Wall, where 万里 means 'ten thousand li'.
- The character 里 (lǐ) used in 英里 is also the character used for 'village' or 'neighborhood' in many contexts.
Examples in context
- 這條河寬一英里。This river is one mile across.Tatoeba #419260 by nickyeow, translation #58145 by CK
- 我走了大约1英里。I walked about 1 mile.Tatoeba #333806 by CynthiaGAN, translation #1137292 by soj4l
- 我走了四分之三英里。I walked three-fourths of a mile.Tatoeba #859223 by Martha, translation #72571 by CK
- 一英里One mile
- 7 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a hiking trail.
- 佳怡 Jiayi這條路總共長多少英里？Zhè tiáo lù zǒnggòng cháng duōshǎo yīnglǐ?How many miles long is this path in total?
- 伟 Wei大約五英里，走起來很舒服。Dàyuē wǔ yīnglǐ, zǒu qǐlái hěn shūfú.About five miles, it's very comfortable to walk.
- 佳怡 Jiayi那我們今天能走完嗎？Nà wǒmen jīntiān néng zǒu wán ma?Can we finish it today then?
- 伟 Wei沒問題，我們快到了。Méi wèntí, wǒmen kuài dào le.No problem, we are almost there.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “mile” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
