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外

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outside; in addition; foreign; external

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HSK 3.0
Level 1
Old HSK
Level 2
Strokes
5
Radical
夕 +2
Structure
Left–right 左右
Traditional
外
Common rank
#93
Unicode
U+5916

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 外 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Night-time 夕 divinations 卜; the supernatural, the foreign

Components 夕 卜

How to remember it

outside · Heisig RSH #118

夕 evening + magic wand

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 外

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

WordPinyinMeaning
国外 guó wài abroad; external (affairs); overseas; foreign
外国 wài guó foreign country
外语 wài yǔ foreign language; CL:門|门[men2]
外边 wài bian outside; outer surface; abroad; place other than one's home
外国人 wài guó rén foreigner
外地人 wài dì rén stranger; outsider
上海外国语大学 Shàng hǎi Wài guó yǔ Dà xué Shanghai International Studies University (SISU)
西安外国语大学 Xī ān Wài guó yǔ Dà xué Xi'an International Studies University (XISU)
人外有人，天外有天 rén wài yǒu rén , tiān wài yǒu tiān in the wider world there are people more talented than oneself (idiom)
天外有天，人外有人 tiān wài yǒu tiān , rén wài yǒu rén see 人外有人，天外有天[ren2 wai4 you3 ren2 , tian1 wai4 you3 tian1]
山外有山，天外有天 shān wài yǒu shān , tiān wài yǒu tiān (idiom) however good sth is, there is always sth better; in the wider world there are peop…
不外 bù wài not beyond the scope of; nothing more than
外子 wài zǐ (polite) my husband
大外 Dà Wài abbr. for 大連外國語大學|大连外国语大学[Da4 lian2 Wai4 guo2 yu3 Da4 xue2]
外人 wài rén outsider; foreigner; stranger
外水 wài shuǐ extra income
中外 zhōng wài Sino-foreign; Chinese-foreign; home and abroad
外头 wài tou outside; outdoors
外心 wài xīn (of a married person) interest in a third person; (old) (of a minister etc) disloyal dispo…
道外区 Dào wài Qū Daowai, a district of Harbin City 哈爾濱市|哈尔滨市[Ha1 er3 bin1 Shi4], Heilongjiang