Meaning of 外国
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- foreign country
How to use 外国
外国 often works like an adjective before a noun to mean foreign, as in 外国人 (wàiguórén) foreigner or 外国电影 (wàiguó diànyǐng) foreign film. Example: 他去过很多外国。(Tā qùguo hěn duō wàiguó.) He has been to many foreign countries.
外 (wài) means outside and 国 (guó) means country, so 外国 is simply a country outside your own. Think of 中国 (Zhōngguó), the middle country, and 外国, every country beyond it.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 外国 and 国外 (guówài). 外国 is a foreign country, while 国外 means abroad as a place, so say 我想去国外 (I want to go abroad), not 我想去外国 when you mean abroad in general.
外国 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
外 wài · outside · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
国 guó · country · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 外国.
| 国家 | guójiā | country; nation; state |
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | China |
| 国外 | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 外边 | wàibian | outside; outer surface |
| 外语 | wàiyǔ | foreign language |
| 国际 | guójì | international |
| 全国 | quánguó | whole nation; nationwide |
| 以外 | yǐwài | apart from; other than |
| 出国 | chūguó | to go abroad; to leave the country |
| 回国 | huí guó | to return to one's home country |
| 外卖 | wàimài | (of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal; takeout (business) |
| 外地 | wàidì | parts of the country other than where one is |
Questions about 外国
What does 外国 mean?
外国 (wàiguó) means "foreign country" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 外国?
外国 is made of 2 characters: 外 (5 strokes), 国 (8 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 外国 an HSK word?
Yes. 外国 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 外国 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 外国 is written 外國.
Is 外国人 a polite word for foreigner?
Yes, 外国人 (wàiguórén) is the standard neutral word. The casual 老外 (lǎowài) is common and usually friendly, but 外国人 is safer in formal situations.
How do I say foreign language with 外国?
You can say 外国语 (wàiguóyǔ), but in daily speech people shorten it to 外语 (wàiyǔ). For example, 你会说外语吗? means Can you speak a foreign language?