HSK 5 · Money

利息 lìxī “interest (on a loan)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 利息 means

  1. interest (on a loan)

Measure word 笔 bǐ · 一笔利息 yì bǐ lìxī

How to say 利息

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale利lì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale息xī1st tone, high and level

利息 in a sentence

  1. 我存在银行的钱利息非常低。

    Wǒ cún zài yínháng de qián lìxī fēicháng dī.

    The money I keep in the bank earns very little interest.

    Sentence #13861338 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 银行对风险客户收取较高的贷款利息。

    Yínháng duì fēngxiǎn kèhù shōuqǔ jiào gāo de dàikuǎn lìxī.

    Banks charge higher interest on loans to high-risk customers.

    Sentence #332651 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我本金和利息都没了。

    Wǒ běnjīn hé lìxī dōu méi le.

    I’ve lost both the principal and the interest.

    Sentence #338949 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 利息 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 利 (lì) with each of its parts in a different colour
利lìsharp
  • 禾grain · hé
  • 刂knife form of 刀 · dāo
The character 息 (xī) with each of its parts in a different colour
息xībreath
  • 自self · zì
  • 心heart · xīn

How to write 利息

利 7 strokes · 息 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 利息

Words with 利

流利liúlì · fluent顺利shùnlì · smoothly胜利shènglì · victory利用lìyòng · to make use of有利yǒulì · advantageous利益lìyì · benefit利润lìrùn · profits权利quánlì · right (an entitlement)便利biànlì · convenient锋利fēnglì · sharp (blade)

Words with 息

休息xiūxi · to rest消息xiāoxi · news信息xìnxī · information作息zuòxī · work and rest出息chūxi · promise川流不息chuānliúbùxī · flowing in an endless stream (of people or traffic)

More words: Money & Economy

汇率huìlǜ · exchange rate经商jīngshāng · to be in business进口jìnkǒu · to import利润lìrùn · profits贸易màoyì · (commercial) trade名牌míngpái · famous brand赔偿péicháng · to compensate破产pòchǎn · to go bankrupt

FAQs

利息 (lìxī) means “interest (on a loan)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it lìxī: lì with a 4th tone, then xī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 利息 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 笔 (bǐ). For example, one interest (on a loan) is 一笔利息 (yì bǐ lìxī).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type lixi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 利息 from the suggestions. Typing lixi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
利息 is an HSK 5 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.