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Kanji Information Sheet for 外  ( PDF version of this Kanji PDF version )

stroke order illustration  
English:
outside
On-Yomi:
ガイ
Kun-Yomi:
そと
ほか
はず.す
はず.れる
と-
うい

ふか
Bushu (Radical) Info: 夕 (ゆうべ) – evening
Henshall Mnemonic: crescent moon with crack on outside
Levels: JLPT N5 | JLPT 4 (old) | Grade 2
Frequency: #81 of the 2500 most used kanji in newspapers

Common Words and/or Phrases Using this Kanji:

Click any individual kanji to view a similar information sheet for it.
Click [K] to look up the word's individual character(s) at WWWJDIC.
Click [D] to look up the word at WWWJDIC (definition is the same but other useful features exist).

Click [Jisho] to look up the word at Jisho.org.

JLPT N5 Words

  •   [がいこく]
    (n) foreign country   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいこくじん]
    (n) foreigner   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [そと]
    (n) (1) outside; exterior; (2) open air; (3) other place   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ほか]
    (n) other place; the rest   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N4 Words

  •   [いがい]
    (n-adv) with the exception of; excepting   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [こうがい]
    (n) suburb; outskirts   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N3 Words

  •   [いがい]
    (adj-na,n) unexpected; surprising   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいこう]
    (n) diplomacy   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいしゅつ]
    (n,vs) outing; going out   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [かいがい]
    (n) foreign; abroad; overseas   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • す   [はずす]
    (v5s) (1) to unfasten; (2) to remove; (3) to bump off (sl)   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N2 Words

  • れる   [はずれる]
    (v1,vi) to be disconnected; to get out of place; to be off; to be out (e.g. of gear)   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [げか]
    (n) surgical department   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [おくがい]
    (n) outdoors   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [れいがい]
    (adj-no,n) exception   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • その   [そのほか]
    besides; in addition; the rest   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいぶ]
    (n) the outside; external   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [あんがい]
    (adj-na,n-adv) unexpectedly   [K] [D] [Jisho]

JLPT N1 Words

  •   [じょがい]
    (n,vs) exception; exclusion   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいか]
    (n) imported goods; foreign money   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいかん]
    (n) appearance; exterior; facade   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [やがい]
    (adj-no,n) fields; outskirts; open air; suburbs   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいしょう]
    (n) Foreign Minister   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [いきがい]
    (n) outside the area   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいらい]
    (n) (abbr) imported; outpatient clinic   [K] [D] [Jisho]

Other Popular Words Not Classified by JLPT

  • れ   [はずれ]
    (n) (1) end; verge; extremity; tip; outskirts; (2) miss; failure   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいあつ]
    (n) external pressure   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [わくがい]
    (n) beyond (the) limits   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいえん]
    (n) outer garden   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [げかい]
    (n) surgeon   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいかい]
    (n) physical world; the externals   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいかく]
    (n) outside corner; external angle   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいかく]
    (n) (1) outer wall (e.g. castle); outer block (enclosure); (2) outline; contour   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ろんがい]
    (adj-na,n) out of the question   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [けんがい]
    (n) outside range; outside orbit   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいかくだんたい]
    auxiliary organization   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいき]
    (n) open air   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ほうがい]
    (adj-na,n) exorbitant; outrageous   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [ごうがい]
    (n) newspaper extra   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [じょうがい]
    (n) outside the hall or stadium; off the premises   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [たいがい]
    (n) external; foreign   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいけん]
    (n) outward appearance   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいこうかん]
    (n) diplomat   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  • れ   [まちはずれ]
    (n) outskirts   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しがいせん]
    (n) ultra-violet rays   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [しょうがい]
    (n) public relations; client liaison; client relations   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [こがい]
    (adj-no,n) open-air; outdoors   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [がいこくご]
    (n) foreign language   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [せきがいせん]
    (n) infra-red rays   [K] [D] [Jisho]
  •   [よそうがい]
    (adj-na,n) unexpected; unforeseen; strange   [K] [D] [Jisho]
Find more details for at jisho.org, Yookoso! or WWWJDIC

Acknowledgments

The sofware used to generate this kanji information uses the EDICT and KANJIDIC files. These files are the property of the Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group at Monash University and are used in conformance with the Group's license.

NOTE: I converted the sources just mentioned years ago and have never really updated so there may be some missing or incorrect information that has been addressed in the original sources but not here.

The first Stroke Order image used on this page is courtesy of Ulrich Apel's excellent open source KanjiVG project. The second image is from the folks at the excellent Jisho Japanese-English dictionary site and it too is based on KanjiVG.

Classifying the kanji and popular vocabulary by the new JLPT levels was done by consulting Jonathan Waller‘s JLPT Resources page, renshuu, Wictionary, and Nihongo Ichiban.

The Henshall Mnemonics are the copyright of Tuttle Publishing and are the result of the hard work by Professor Henshall. See the list I used here.

If you are curious about the lexicography shown in the word definitions, visit the WWWJDIC abbreviations and codes guide and the JMdict/Edict Lexicographical details page.