Hello Hannah, Actually I was going to tell you that most of your recent questions were not asked "wisely", you know why? because we don't know how to answer your questions.:) Keep in mind, don't compare a word and a phrase that is made up of that word. I believe you must know that many English words are made up of prefixes, roots and suffixes. for example, international= inter相互+nation国家+al形容词, and then you ask me what is the difference between INTER and INTERNATIONAL, you will make me speechless, I don't know how to answer this question:( In our language, 里 amounts to "the prefix" like "inter","sub"...etc, in English, many phrases are made up of "里"， such as 里面，里头，里屋，里子，里外。。。 里=in 外=out If you know what 里 generally mean, I think it is not hard for you to understand all the phrases that are made of "里", 里面= 里in + 面 side = inside 里屋= 里in+ 屋room = inner room 里子= lining =inside of clothes 里圈= 里inner+圈track, lane=inner track or inside lane Likewise, 外面= 外out + 面side= outside 外屋 外圈..... In addition, 里also means "mile", so tell me what the meanings of the following phrases are? 里=mile 里程 里程表 里程碑.....

里 lǐ名词 1. （衬料; 纺织品的反面） lining; liner; inside 里 li名词 1. （里面; 内部） in; inside

里 is short of 里边

里边 　　词目：里边 　　拼音：lǐbiān 　　英文：inside　 　　基本解释　　 　　1. [inside;in;within]∶一定空间以内 　　壁橱里边 　　2. [during]∶一定时间以内 　　他一年里边没有请过一次假 　　详细解释　　 一定的时间、空间或某种范围以内。 http://dict.baidu.com/s?wd=%C0%EF

里边means inside.里only means in