HSK 6 · Verbs

清理 qīnglǐ “to clear up” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 清理 means

  1. to clear up
  2. to sort out
  3. to put in order
  4. to tidy up
  5. to dispose of

How to say 清理

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale清qīng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale理lǐ3rd tone, dipping

清理 in a sentence

  1. 你必须清理你的房间。

    Nǐ bìxū qīnglǐ nǐ de fángjiān.

    You need to clean up your room.

    Sentence #9415374 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 清理的时候，我们看到了些他的东西。

    Qīnglǐ de shíhou, wǒmen kàndào le xiē tā de dōngxi.

    While clearing up, we came across some of his things.

    Sentence #3710654 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你必须把桌子清理干净。

    Nǐ bìxū bǎ zhuōzi qīnglǐ gānjìng.

    You must clear the table and wipe it clean.

    Sentence #1992627 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 清理 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 清 (qīng) with each of its parts in a different colour
清qīngclear; clean
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 青blue-green · qīngSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 青 (qīng) hints at the sound. Compare it with qīng.

The character 理 (lǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
理lǐtexture
  • 王king · wángMeaning part
  • 里village · lǐSound part

王 hints at the meaning (king); 里 (lǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with lǐ.

Memory aid王 here is jade 玉: cutting jade along its grain. 里 (lǐ) gives the sound: to put in order, reason.

How to write 清理

清 11 strokes · 理 11 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

清理 (qīnglǐ) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 清理 (qīnglǐ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 清理

Words with 清

清楚qīngchu · clear清淡qīngdàn · light (of food清晨qīngchén · early morning清真qīngzhēn · halal澄清chéngqīng · to clarify清除qīngchú · to clear away清澈qīngchè · clear清洁qīngjié · clean清晰qīngxī · clear清醒qīngxǐng · sober

Words with 理

经理jīnglǐ · manager理解lǐjiě · to comprehend理想lǐxiǎng · an ideal理发lǐfà · to get a haircut修理xiūlǐ · to repair整理zhěnglǐ · to arrange管理guǎnlǐ · to supervise办理bànlǐ · to handle处理chǔlǐ · to handle合理hélǐ · rational

More words: Common Verbs

起草qǐcǎo · to draft欺负qīfu · to bully起哄qǐhòng · to stir up trouble清除qīngchú · to clear away倾斜qīngxié · to tilt欺骗qīpiàn · to deceive企图qǐtú · to attempt全力以赴quánlìyǐfù · to go all out

FAQs

清理 (qīnglǐ) means “to clear up” or “to sort out”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it qīnglǐ: qīng with a 1st tone, then lǐ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 清理 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qingli with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 清理 from the suggestions. Typing qingli into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
清理 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.