外
wài
outside
Part of speech · noun
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- 在外面。I'm outside.
- 外国朋友。Foreign friend.
Collocations
外面外国国外
Mnemonic
外 wài "outside, external" — antonym 内 nèi / 里 lǐ. Pictographic origin: 夕 (evening) + 卜 (divination) → "divining outside normal hours". Cognate of Japanese 外 soto / gai.
Quick check
外国 vs 国外?