HSK 6 · Work

外行 wàiháng “layman” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 外行 means

  1. layman
  2. amateur
  3. inexpert

How to say 外行

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale外wài4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale行háng2nd tone, rising

外行 in a sentence

  1. 他们是外行。

    Tāmen shì wàiháng.

    They’re amateurs.

    Sentence #10011709 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我那时还是个外行。

    Wǒ nàshí háishi ge wàiháng.

    I was still an amateur at that time.

    Sentence #6325054 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 外行谈策略,内行谈后勤。

    Wàiháng tán cèlüè, nèiháng tán hòuqín.

    Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics.

    Sentence #13204746 from Tatoeba

How 外行 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 外 (wài) with each of its parts in a different colour
外wàioutside
  • 夕evening · xī
  • 卜divination · bǔ

Memory aidEvening 夕 beside a divination crack 卜. Picture fortune-telling done at night, out of doors: outside.

The character 行 (háng) with each of its parts in a different colour
行hángrow; line
  • 彳step · chì
  • 亍to take small steps · chù

Memory aidDrawn from a crossroads: to walk, to go. It also means a row or line (háng).

How to write 外行

外 5 strokes · 行 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

外行 (wàiháng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 外行 (wàiháng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 外行

Words with 外

Words with 行

More words: Work & Career

FAQs

外行 (wàiháng) means “layman” or “amateur”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it wàiháng: wài with a 4th tone, then háng with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 外行 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type waihang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 外行 from the suggestions. Typing waihang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
外行 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.