Meaning of 外头
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- outside; outdoors
How to use 外头
外头 is a casual, spoken way to say outside, especially common in northern Chinese. It works like 外边 (wàibian) and often follows 在 (zài). Example: 孩子们在外头玩。(Háizimen zài wàitou wán.) The kids are playing outside.
外 (wài) means outside, and 头 (tou) here is just a noun suffix for place, like in 里头 (lǐtou) inside. Think of it as the outside part of somewhere.
Common mistake: Learners often say the 头 with its full second tone, tóu, but in 外头 it is usually neutral tone: wàitou. Also, 外头 means physically outside, so do not use it for abroad. Use 国外 (guó wài) for that.
外头 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
头 tóu · head · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 外头.
| 外国 | wàiguó | foreign country |
| 国外 | guó wài | abroad; external (affairs) |
| 外边 | wàibian | outside; outer surface |
| 外语 | wàiyǔ | foreign language |
| 头发 | tóufa | hair (on the head) |
| 以外 | yǐwài | apart from; other than |
| 里头 | lǐtou | inside; interior |
| 点头 | diǎntóu | to nod |
| 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 |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside (also pr. [wai4 mian5] for this sense); surface |
| 另外 | lìngwài | additional; in addition |
Questions about 外头
What does 外头 mean?
外头 (wàitou) means "outside; outdoors" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 外头?
外头 is made of 2 characters: 外 (5 strokes), 头 (5 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 外头 an HSK word?
Yes. 外头 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 外头 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 外头 is written 外頭.
What is the difference between 外头 and 外面?
They mean the same thing. 外面 (wàimiàn) is the most neutral and works in speech and writing. 外头 sounds more colloquial and is heard a lot in northern speech.
Can 外头 come after another noun?
Yes. You can say 门外头 (mén wàitou) outside the door or 屋子外头 (wūzi wàitou) outside the room. It works like a location word that follows the thing it refers to.