利

Tap the pinyin to hear it

sharp; favorable; advantage; benefit; profit; interest; to do good to; to benefit

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Harvesting 刂 grain 禾

Components 禾刂

profit · Heisig RSH #771

wild rice + saber

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
不利	bù lì	unfavorable; disadvantageous; harmful; detrimental
大利拉	Dà lì lā	(Protestantism) Delilah
水利家	shuǐ lì jiā	water manager; hydraulic engineer
利市	lì shì	business profit; auspicious; lucky; small sum of money offered on festive days
水利	shuǐ lì	water conservancy; irrigation works
地利	dì lì	favorable location; in the right place; productivity of land
无利	wú lì	no profit; not profitable; a hindrance; (to lend money) at no interest
利马	Lì mǎ	Lima, capital of Peru
马利	Mǎ lì	Mali (Tw)
平利县	Píng lì Xiàn	Pingli, a county in Ankang City 安康市[An1 kang1 Shi4], Shaanxi
有利	yǒu lì	advantageous; favorable
法拉利	Fǎ lā lì	Ferrari, Italian luxury sports car manufacturer
利手	lì shǒu	dominant hand; handedness
安利	Ān lì	Amway (brand)
安利	ān lì	to recommend (a product etc); to promote
高利	gāo lì	high interest rate; usurious
利通区	Lì tōng Qū	Litong, a district of Wuzhong City 吳忠市\|吴忠市[Wu2 zhong1 Shi4], Ningxia
义大利	Yì dà lì	(Tw) Italy
意大利人	Yì dà lì rén	Italian person
义大利面	yì dà lì miàn	(Tw) spaghetti; pasta

These characters use 利 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
利 sound part	lì	gains, advantage, profit, merit
梨	lí	pear; opera
莉	lì	jasmine
俐	lì	smooth; active; clever, sharp
痢	lì	dysentery
唎	lì	final particle; and? ok?
脷	lì	beef tongue
猁	lì	a kind of monkey
蜊	lí	clam