HSK 4 · Verbs

整理 zhěnglǐ “to arrange” in Chinese

Said as zhénglǐ

Same in Traditional

What 整理 means

  1. to arrange
  2. to tidy up
  3. to sort out
  4. to straighten out
  5. to list systematically
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to collate (data, files)

How to say 整理

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale整zhěng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale理lǐ3rd tone, dipping

Said as zhénglǐ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

整理 in a sentence

  1. 整理一下房间。

    Zhěnglǐ yíxià fángjiān.

    Tidy up the room.

    Sentence #1250581 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 我一直想整理书桌。

    Wǒ yìzhí xiǎng zhěnglǐ shūzhuō.

    I keep meaning to organise my desk.

    Sentence #13138158 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 我们将要整理房间，这样妈妈就会满意了。

    Wǒmen jiāngyào zhěnglǐ fángjiān, zhèyàng māma jiù huì mǎnyì le.

    We’re going to tidy our room so that Mum will be happy.

    Sentence #451828 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 整理 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 整 (zhěng) with each of its parts in a different colour
整zhěngwhole; complete; entire; whole; exactly
  • 敕an imperial order or decree · chìMeaning part
  • 正straight · zhēngSound part

敕 hints at the meaning (an imperial order or decree); 正 (zhēng) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhěng.

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 整理

整 16 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.

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

Words related to 整理

Words with 整

整zhěng · whole调整tiáozhěng · to adjust完整wánzhěng · complete整齐zhěngqí · orderly整体zhěngtǐ · whole整个zhěnggè · whole整顿zhěngdùn · to rectify

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管理guǎnlǐ · to supervise办理bànlǐ · to handle处理chǔlǐ · to handle合理hélǐ · rational心理xīnlǐ · psychology

More words: Common Verbs

约会yuēhuì · appointment允许yǔnxǔ · to permit增加zēngjiā · to raise照zhào · to shine只好zhǐhǎo · to have no other option but to …指zhǐ · finger转zhuǎn · to turn祝贺zhùhè · to congratulate

FAQs

整理 (zhěnglǐ) means “to arrange” or “to tidy up”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it zhěnglǐ: zhěng with a 3rd tone, then lǐ with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like zhénglǐ. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 整理 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhengli with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 整理 from the suggestions. Typing zhengli into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
整理 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.