(wài) - outside, external, foreign in Mandarin
wàiTraditional: 外
Translation
outside, external, foreign
Word origin
An ideograph combining 夕 (xī, evening) and 卜 (bǔ, divination), said to refer to divination done at an unusual time, hence outside the norm and the sense of outer.
- Origin
- ideograph
- Root
- 夕 (xī, evening) + 卜 (bǔ, divination)
Stroke order
外
Examples
雨。
It is raining outside.
，。
Apart from him, nobody knows.
。
He worked abroad for three years.
。
Please wait outside the door for a moment.
。
This is an unexpected result.
外 (wài) means outside, external, or foreign, and is the opposite of 内 (inside). It combines freely into words such as 外面 (outside) and 外国 (foreign country).
Where this fits
Appears in 3 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 外.
Used in
Stories
(1)Grammar articles
(9)Mandarin Advanced Grammar (C1-C2 / HSK 6+): Chengyu, Classical Remnants, and Register
Mandarin 除了...以外: One Frame, Two Opposite Meanings
Mandarin Conjunctions: 虽然…但是, 因为…所以, 如果…就 and the Paired Structures That Join Clauses
The Mandarin Durative 着 (zhe): Marking a State That Continues (门开着, 拿着书, 笑着说)
The Mandarin 连...都/也 Construction: How to Say 'Even', and Why the Word Has to Move
Mandarin Location and Existence: 在 for Where, 有 for There Is, and the 上/下/里/外 Position Words
Mandarin Sentence-Final Particles: 吧, 呢, 啊, 嘛, 吗 and the Final 了
The Mandarin 者 (zhě) Suffix: 作者, 读者, 前者, and Naming the One Who Does It
Mandarin 之 (zhī): 之一, 之间, 之后, 之中, 总之 and the Written Ancestor of 的
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外: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "外" (outside, external, foreign): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 36.