立 meaning in English

lì

to stand; to set up

HSK 5verb5 strokes

Meaning of 立

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

lì

to stand
to set up
to establish
to lay down
to draw up
at once
immediately

Lì

surname Li

How to use 立

On its own, 立 is more formal or written. Everyday speech usually says 站 (zhàn) for standing. 立 is very common in compounds, though. It means to establish in 建立 (jiànlì) and 成立 (chénglì), and it means at once in 立刻 (lìkè) and 立即 (lìjí). Example: 公司去年成立了。(Gōngsī qùnián chénglì le.) The company was founded last year.

立 (lì) looks like a person standing upright on the ground: the dot is the head, the short strokes are arms and legs, and the long bottom line is the ground. A person standing firmly on the ground is the picture behind the meaning to stand.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 立 with 位 (wèi, position) and 拉 (lā, to pull), which contain 立 as a part. Also, do not use 立 alone for everyday standing. Say 站起来 (zhàn qǐlái) for stand up, not 立起来.

立 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

他tā在zài一yī间jiān很hěn大dà的de市shì立lì医yī院yuàn工gōng作zuò。

He works in a big city hospital.

这zhè件jiàn事shì靠kào个gè人rén的de立lì场chǎng来lái解jiě释shì。

It is subject to interpretation.

我wǒ要yào是shì有yǒu钱qián，立lì马mǎ就jiù买mǎi这zhè台tái电diàn脑nǎo。

If I had the money, I would immediately buy this computer.

这zhè是shì一yī所suǒ公gōng立lì学xué校xiào。

This is a state school.

你nǐ最zuì好hǎo立lì马mǎ去qù睡shuì觉jiào。

You'd better go to bed at once.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

立 lì · to stand · 5 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 立.

立刻	lìkè	immediately; at once; right away
建立	jiànlì	to establish; to set up
成立	chénglì	to establish; to set up
设立	shèlì	to set up; to establish
立即	lìjí	immediately
独立	dúlì	independent; independence
立场	lìchǎng	position; standpoint
创立	chuànglì	to establish; to set up; to found
对立	duìlì	to oppose; to set sth against
确立	quèlì	to establish; to institute
孤立	gūlì	to isolate; isolated
站立	zhànlì	to stand; standing

Questions about 立

What does 立 mean?

立 (lì) means "to stand; to set up" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 立?

立 is made of 1 character: 立 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.

Is 立 an HSK word?

Yes. 立 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 立刻 and 立即?

Both mean immediately. 立刻 (lìkè) is common in speech, and 立即 (lìjí) sounds more formal, as in notices or news reports.

Why do so many characters contain 立?

立 is a common building block in characters like 站 (zhàn, to stand), 位 (wèi, position), and 童 (tóng, child). Sometimes it hints at the meaning, as in 站, and sometimes it is just part of the shape.