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.
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.
表biǎoexterior surface
毛fur · máo
衣clothes · yī
Memory aidFur 毛 on the outside of clothes 衣: the outside, to show.
How to write 外表
外 5 strokes · 表 8 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 外表 (wàibiǎo). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
外表 (wàibiǎo) means “appearance” or “exterior”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it wàibiǎo: wài with a 4th tone, then biǎo with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 外表 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type waibiao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 外表 from the suggestions. Typing waibiao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
外表 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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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.
外wài4th tone, falling
表biǎo3rd tone, dipping
