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In the following sentence:

这些狗里有一只穿红色的毛衣

What does the 里 mean? I think the sentence means something like The dogs wear red sweaters. But why does it require 里 there and what meaning does it add?

I'm learning about simplified mandarin language, but would like to know if it differs from the traditional in how it is used.

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5 Answers 5

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It means one of these dogs wears a red sweater. ...里 literally means in/among ..., and it is followed by 有一只, which means there is one. Hence the whole sentence translates literally as Among these dogs there is one wearing a red sweater.

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  • Thanks, that makes sense. Then Among these dogs there are two wearing a red sweater. is translated into 这些狗里有两只穿红色的毛衣, right? (Side Topic: if two dogs wear a sweater, should it be written in wearing a red sweater or wearing red sweaters?)
    – Blaszard
    Oct 26, 2014 at 18:30
  • Yes, it's exactly '这些狗里有两只穿红色的毛衣'. (I would say 'wearing red sweaters')
    – user58955
    Oct 26, 2014 at 22:37
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The meaning is the same in traditional Chinese. In traditional Chinese, the style is different, 里 => 裡.

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If the sentence was written in Traditional Chinese, you might find it easier to understand:

這些狗裏有一隻穿紅色的毛衣.

and it means:

這群狗中, 有一隻穿紅色的毛衣.

Even in the original sentence, I prefer "中" or "當中" because it is less confusing than "里".

BTW, "紅色的毛衣" here can be simplified as "紅毛衣".

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  • Is the 中 also used in this context in Simplified Chinese or it's only used in Traditional Chinese? And thank you for the tips on 红色的毛衣!
    – Blaszard
    Nov 2, 2014 at 4:31
  • Yeah, it's less common to use "中" in such context in Mainland text.
    – Henry HO
    Nov 2, 2014 at 5:11
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这些狗 these dogs

里 among

有一只 one (there is one)

穿 wear

红色(的) red (的 means that 红色 is a adj.)

毛衣 sweater

And the whole sentence is:

"There is one dog among these dogs wear red sweater"

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-1

Split the sentence as below to make better understanding

这些狗里 有一只 穿红色的毛衣.

But usually it would be more likely like below in speaking:

(在)这些狗里(面) 有一只 穿红色的毛衣

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  • Not sure why this answer was accepeted. It doesn't actually answer the question.
    – deutschZuid
    Oct 28, 2014 at 2:41
  • @deutschZuid, oh, I had accepted the answer by user58955, and am not sure why this was altered. Maybe I happened to tap the button when I browse in my iPad. Now fixed, thanks.
    – Blaszard
    Oct 28, 2014 at 19:48

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