内 (nèi): inside

Meanings

1 inside
2 inner
3 internal
4 within

Characters

内

nèi

inside; inner; within

Examples

请在三天内完成。

Qǐng zài sān tiān nèi wánchéng.

Please complete it within three days.

国内的情况怎么样？

Guónèi de qíngkuàng zěnmeyàng?

How is the situation domestically?

校内不能停车。

Xiàonèi bù néng tíngchē.

Parking is not allowed on campus.

Tips

usage

内 is the more formal/written equivalent of 里. Common compounds: 国内 (domestic), 室内 (indoor), 内部 (internal). The opposite is 外 (outside).

Components

radical

冂 jiōng

down-box; outer enclosure

Outer 冂 is the down-box radical, depicting the four walls of a structure seen from outside. It defines the boundary that 内 lives behind — the walls of the room, the outer skin. Same family as 同, 网, 周 — chars where 冂 frames an inner space.

semantic

人 rén

person; entering shape

Inner shape is a person crossing the threshold. Traditional 內 used 入 (entering) here, picturing a person stepping inside the walls. Modern 内 settled on a 人-shape readable either way — entering or already inside. Either reading lands the meaning: someone has crossed in.