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外头 (wài tou) — outside, outdoors

Definition

外头 (wài tou) is the colloquial, everyday word for 'outside / outdoors' — same idea as 外面, but more casual and spoken. The noun 外面 is neutral and more common in writing.

noun
outsideoutdoors

Examples

  • 外头，。
    wài tou Xià zhe dà yǔ, wǒ men bié chū qù le.
    It's raining heavily outside, let's not go out.
  • 外头。
    Hái zi men dōu zài wài tou wán ne.
    The children are all playing outside.
  • 外头，。
    wài tou Lěng dé hěn, nǐ duō chuān diǎn yī fu.
    It's very cold outside, put on more clothes.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

外wàioutside
头tóusuffix

外 gives outside, and 头 is added to make a colloquial place word.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
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