Kilo Lingo

(xíng li) - luggage, baggage in Mandarin

xíngli

Traditional: 行李

#2131 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

luggage, baggage

Word origin

Built from 行 (xíng, to travel) and 李 (lǐ, used here for its sound rather than its plum meaning), so the things that travel with you.

Origin
compound
Root
行 (xíng, to travel) + 李 (lǐ, phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 行

Stroke order for 李

Examples

My luggage has not arrived yet.

Please put the luggage here.

She brought only one piece of luggage.

We waited an hour for our luggage at the airport.

Your luggage is too heavy.

行李 (xíng li) is luggage. Note the neutral tone on the second syllable: it is xíng li, not xíng lǐ, and saying the full third tone marks you out immediately.

Like English luggage, it is uncountable as a mass, so you count pieces with 件: 一件行李, 三件行李. 一个行李 is wrong. If you want to name the bag itself rather than the load, use 箱子 for a suitcase or 包 for a bag.

The 李 here is not the plum or the surname doing any semantic work; it is carrying the sound. Do not try to unpick the compound. Useful collocations at an airport: 行李箱 (suitcase), 托运行李 (checked baggage), 手提行李 (hand luggage), 取行李 (to collect one's bags).

Where this fits

Used in

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Mandarin · Free printables

行李: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "行李" (luggage, baggage): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 43.