jù lí
distance; be away from
我家离学校很近。
wǒ jiā lí xuéxiào hěn jìn.
My home is very close to the school.
从北京到上海的距离是多少公里？
cóng běijīng dào shànghǎi de jùlí shì duōshǎo gōnglǐ?
How many kilometers is the distance from Beijing to Shanghai?
我们之间的距离越来越远了。
wǒmen zhījiān de jùlí yuè lái yuè yuǎnle.
The distance between us is getting farther and farther.
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The Chinese word 距离 (jùlí) for "distance" is composed of two characters: 距 (jù) and 离 (lí). The character 距 originally meant "to separate" or "to be apart", and it is often used in words related to distance or separation, such as 间距 (jiànjù, "spacing") and 距离 (jùlí, "distance"). The character 离 originally meant "to leave" or "to depart", and it is often used in words related to separation or departure, such as 离开 (líkāi, "to leave") and 离别 (líbié, "to part"). When combined, the two characters 距 and 离 create the word 距离, which literally means "to separate and depart" and is used to refer to the physical distance between two objects or the abstract distance between two things.
