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.
面miànface
面 is a single shape of 9 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidDrawn from a face inside its outline.
How to write 外面
外 5 strokes · 面 9 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 外面 (wàimiàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
外面 (wàimiàn) means “outside” or “surface”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word.
Say it wàimiàn: wài with a 4th tone, then miàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 外面 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type waimian with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 外面 from the suggestions. Typing waimian into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
外面 is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 2 word list. It is not on the older 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.
外wài4th tone, falling
