lei5哩

Jyutpinglei5

Yaleléih

Very common

Definition

Mile; a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or approximately 1.61 kilometers.

neutralother

How it's used

Usage of this term is largely restricted to specific contexts like road signage, sports, or aviation where imperial units remain standard. In everyday casual conversation, Hong Kongers almost exclusively use kilometers when discussing distance, making this term sound slightly technical or old-fashioned to younger speakers.

Examples

nei1呢dou6度keoi5距lei4離si5市zung1中sam1心jau5有ng5五lei5哩gam3咁jyun5遠。

It is five miles away from the city center here.

nei5你zi1知m4唔zi1知jat1一lei5哩zik1即hai6係gei2幾do1多gung1公lei5里aa4呀？

Do you know how many kilometers one mile is?

Common phrases

ng5五lei5哩lou6路

five miles of road

Common mistake

Do not confuse this with the demonstrative pronoun 呢, which sounds similar but is used to mean this. While 哩 is a specific unit of measurement, 呢 is a high-frequency grammatical particle used to point out objects or locations.