HSK 2 · Places

外 wài “outside” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 外 means

  1. outside
  2. in addition
  3. foreign
  4. external

How to say 外

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale外wài4th tone, falling

外 in a sentence

  1. 我在外面等。

    Wǒ zài wàimiàn děng.

    I’m waiting outside.

    Sentence #9415185 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我是外国人。

    Wǒ shì wàiguórén.

    I’m a foreigner.

    Sentence #2221094 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 请在一米线外等候。

    Qǐng zài yì mǐ xiàn wài děnghòu.

    Please wait behind the one-metre line.

    Sentence #6054155 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 外 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.

How to write 外

外 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 外

Words with 外

外边wàibian · outside外国wàiguó · foreign (country)外面wàimiàn · outside外卖wàimài · takeaway (food)外地wàidì · another part of the country外语wàiyǔ · foreign language以外yǐwài · apart from另外lìngwài · additional外公wàigōng · grandpa (mother’s father)意外yìwài · unexpected

More words: Places & Directions

公司gōngsī · company机场jīchǎng · airport路lù · road旁边pángbiān · side右边yòubian · right side左边zuǒbian · left side办公室bàngōngshì · office北方běifāng · north

FAQs

外 (wài) means “outside” or “in addition”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it wài: wài with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 外 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 外 from the suggestions. Typing wai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
外 is an HSK 2 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.