HSK 4 · Body

力气 lìqi “strength” in Chinese

Traditional 力氣

What 力气 means

  1. strength
  2. physical strength

How to say 力气

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale力lì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own气qineutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

力气 in a sentence

  1. 我没力气了。

    Wǒ méi lìqi le.

    I’ve got no strength left.

    Sentence #9007571 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我看上去像是很有力气的人，可实际上并非如此。

    Wǒ kànshangqu xiàng shì hěn yǒu lìqi de rén, kě shíjìshàng bìngfēi rúcǐ.

    I may look strong, but I’m honestly not.

    Sentence #2448775 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你白费力气了。

    Nǐ báifèi lìqi le.

    You’re wasting your energy.

    Sentence #781083 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 力气 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 力 (lì) drawn as one shape
力lìpower

力 is a single shape of 2 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidThought to show an old plough, and pulling it took strength: strength, power.

The character 气 (qì) drawn as one shape
气qìgas; airlight in 力气

气 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from layers of vapour rising: air, steam, breath.

How to write 力气

力 2 strokes · 气 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 力气

Words with 力

努力nǔlì · to work hard能力nénglì · capability压力yālì · pressure巧克力qiǎokèlì · chocolate (loanword)精力jīnglì · energy尽力jìnlì · to strive one’s hardest权力quánlì · power力量lìliang · power魅力mèilì · charm视力shìlì · eyesight

Words with 气

天气tiānqì · weather不客气bú kèqi · you’re welcome生气shēngqì · angry气qì · air空气kōngqì · air气候qìhòu · climate脾气píqi · temper淘气táoqì · naughty小气xiǎoqì · stingy气氛qìfēn · atmosphere

More words: People, Body & Health

肚子dùzi · belly胳膊gēbo · arm咳嗽késou · to cough汗hàn · perspiration毛máo · hair皮肤pífū · skin生命shēngmìng · life痛tòng · painful

FAQs

力气 (lìqi) means “strength” or “physical strength”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it lìqi: lì with a 4th tone, then qi with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 力气 is written 力氣. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type liqi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 力气 from the suggestions. Typing liqi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
力气 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.