Noun, Adj.unexpected; unforeseen

Animated Stroke Order

Stroke order SVGs for the characters in 意外.
意 stroke order svg
外 stroke order svg

Practice writing 意外 (yì wài) with our free printable handwriting worksheet

Character Breakdown

意外 consists of 2 characters.

How to Use 意外 in Sentences

Common collocations & usage patterns. Learn how to combine 意外 with other words naturally.
Measure Word + Nounwith
wài
neutral
a surprise/an accident
Adverb + Adjectivewith
hěn
wài
neutral
very surprising
Verb + Object
gǎn
dào
wài
neutral
feel surprised
shēng
wài
neutral
have an accident
Adjective + Nounwith事故
wài
shì
formal
accident

Example Sentences with 意外

jīn
tiān
xià
le
zhēn
wài
It rained today, what a surprise.
zhè
ge
wài
de
xiàn
chè
gǎi
biàn
le
men
de
yán
jiū
huà
This unexpected discovery completely changed our research plan.
nán
dào
duì
wài
de
jié
guǒ
méi
yǒu
gǎn
dào
jīng
ma
Aren't you even a little surprised by such an unexpected result?
kǎo
shì
le
míng
men
dōu
gǎn
dào
wài
He got first place in the exam, which surprised all of us.
bìng
wèi
yīn
zhè
wài
ér
něi
fǎn
ér
gèng
jiā
jiān
dìng
le
jué
xīn
He was not discouraged by this setback; instead, he became even more determined.
men
wán
quán
méi
yǒu
liào
dào
huì
chū
xiàn
zhè
zhǒng
wài
de
shù
zhàng
We did not anticipate this unexpected technical failure at all.
zhè
xíng
zhōng
shēng
le
xiē
wài
dàn
zuì
zhōng
dōu
shùn
jiě
jué
le
Some unexpected things happened during this trip, but they were all resolved smoothly in the end.
zài
chāo
shì
ǒu
lǎo
tóng
xué
zhēn
shì
lìng
rén
kuài
de
wài
Running into an old classmate at the supermarket was a delightful surprise.