李 meaning and stroke order
Plum; luggage; surname
How to write 李, stroke by stroke
7 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 李
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- plum
How 李 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Wood.
木 gives the meaning and 子 hints at the sound.
Radical: 木 (tree), shared by 388 characters on this site.
How to remember 李
李 is a tree 木 (mù) on top of a child 子 (zǐ). Picture a child sitting under a plum tree waiting for the fruit to drop. The etymology data lists 木 as the meaning part (wood, tree) and 子 as the sound part.
Today 李 rarely means plum by itself. You will see it in 李子 (lǐzi, plum), in 行李 (xíngli, luggage), and above all as one of the most common surnames in China. Example: 我的行李太重了。(Wǒ de xíngli tài zhòng le.) My luggage is too heavy.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 李 with 季 (jì, season), which has 禾 on top instead of 木. Also note that in 行李 the 李 is usually read in the neutral tone, xíngli, not xínglǐ.
Common words with 李
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
李 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 李
How many strokes are in 李?
李 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 李 mean?
李 (lǐ) means plum; luggage; surname. A common word with it is 行李 (xíngli), meaning "luggage".
How do you pronounce 李?
李 is pronounced lǐ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 李?
The radical of 李 is 木, which carries the idea of "tree". Dictionaries list 李 under this radical.
Is 李 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 李 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
How do you say that someone's surname is Li in Chinese?
You say 他姓李 (tā xìng Lǐ), "his surname is Li." To address someone politely, you can say 李先生 (Lǐ xiānsheng, Mr. Li) or 李老师 (Lǐ lǎoshī, Teacher Li).
Is 李 the same Li as in other Chinese names spelled Li?
Not always. Many characters are romanized as Li, such as 黎 (Lí) and 厉 (Lì), and they have different tones. 李 with the third tone is by far the most common one.