驻外 (zhù wài) — (attributive) stationed abroad; overseas (posting)

Definition

驻外 means 'stationed overseas' and is used almost only as an attributive modifier before a job title or role noun (驻外记者, 驻外大使, 驻外人员) — not as a predicate on its own. It refers specifically to being posted abroad by an organization or government.

adjective
(attributive) stationed abroadoverseas (posting)

Examples

  • 驻外。
    Tā shì yì míng zhù wài jì zhě.
    He is a foreign correspondent.
  • 驻外。
    Zhè wèi zhù wài dà shǐ yǐ jīng gōng zuò le sān nián.
    This ambassador abroad has worked for three years.
  • 驻外。
    Hěn duō zhù wài rén yuán xū yào xué xí dāng dì yǔ yán.
    Many overseas personnel need to learn the local language.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

驻zhùstation
外wàiabroad

驻 means to station, and 外 means outside or abroad; together they mean stationed abroad.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 駐; 驻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
主
主zhǔ駐zhù
Same sound today

The traditional form 駐 uses 馬, a horse, for the meaning and 主 to give the sound; the simplified 驻 is a shorthand.

Open 驻 →

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 →

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