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分外 (fèn wài) — (adverb) exceptionally, especially; (adjective) beyond one's duty, not one's responsibility

Definition

Written/literary adverb meaning 'exceptionally' — stronger and more formal than 特别, 格外, or 尤其, which are more colloquial. As an adjective, it means 'beyond one's duty'.

adverb
exceptionallyespecially
adjective
beyond one's dutynot one's responsibility

Examples

  • 分外。
    Jīn tiān de biǎo yǎn fèn wài jīng cǎi.
    Today's performance was exceptionally brilliant.
  • 分外。
    Tā duì zhè cì bǐ sài fèn wài zhòng shì.
    He attaches exceptional importance to this competition.
  • 分外，。
    Zhè ge rèn wu shǔ yú fèn wài gōng zuò, bú zài tā de zhí zé fàn wéi nèi.
    This task is extra work that falls outside his responsibilities.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

分fēnduty
外wàioutside

分 (duty) and 外 (outside) give the sense of beyond one's duty, hence exceptionally.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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