How to Say "Miles" in Chinese

英里

yīnglǐ

The English phrase 'miles' is translated into Chinese as 英里 (yīnglǐ).

In Chinese, the term is used specifically for the international mile to distinguish it from the traditional Chinese 'li'.

What does it mean word for word?

The term is composed of 英 (yīng), meaning 'British' or 'English' and 里 (lǐ), a traditional Chinese unit of distance.

yīnglǐ

The character 英 used in 英里 is the same one used in the word for 'hero' 英雄 (yīngxióng), as it originally referred to a 'flower' or 'excellence'.
In historical Chinese poetry, 万里 (wànlǐ) meaning 'ten thousand li' is used as a common hyperbole to describe an impossibly long distance or a deep sense of longing.
Because the metric system is the standard in China, 英里 is rarely seen on road signs and is almost exclusively used in aviation, shipping or when translating American media.

大概三平方英里。
It's about three square miles.
This sentence shows how to use 英里 when talking about square miles.
Tatoeba #9956006 by GlossaMatik, translation #4014424 by CK
那个逃犯在离这里五十英里的小镇上现身过后又消失了。
The fugitive surfaced in a small town fifty miles from here but then disappeared again.
This sentence demonstrates using 英里 to describe a distance of fifty miles.
Tatoeba #8688563 by crescat, translation #601968 by darinmex
目前正在審查的規則要求，到 2025 年，汽車製造商所製造的所有汽車，平均續航須達到每加侖 54.5 英里 (每公升 23 公里)。
The rules now under review require an average of 54.5 miles per gallon (23 kilometers per liter) from an automaker's entire fleet by 2025.
This sentence illustrates the use of 英里 in the context of fuel efficiency (miles per gallon).
Tatoeba #13175424 by LeviHighway, translation #12271859 by Cangarejo
这艘船已经航行了一千海里。(Zhè sōu chuán yǐjīng hángxíng le yīqiān hǎilǐ.)
This ship has already sailed one thousand miles.
那家餐厅离这里有三十英里的距离。(Nà jiā cāntīng lí zhèlǐ yǒu sānshí yīng lī de jùlí.)
That restaurant is thirty miles away from here.
10 more sentences on Tatoeba

Two friends are discussing a road trip distance.

梓涵 Zihan

我们还要开多少英里才到？
Wǒmen hái yào kāi duōshǎo yīnglǐ cái dào?
How many miles do we still have to drive to get there?
浩然 Haoran

大概还有五十英里。
Dàgài hái yǒu wǔshí yīnglǐ.
Probably about fifty miles left.
梓涵 Zihan

那我们很快就能到了。
Nà wǒmen hěn kuài jiù néng dào le.
Then we will arrive very soon.
浩然 Haoran

是啊，再坚持一下吧。
Shì a, zài jiānchí yīxià ba.
Yeah, let's hang in there a bit longer.

Sources

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