"outdoors"

[tooironic]

There seems to be many different ways of saying "outdoors" in Chinese:

• 户外
  
• 野外
  
• 外头
  
• 露天
  

... to name a few. Can someone please tell me the differences between them and how to use each one in a sentence? Also, if you can think of any more synonyms, do list them. Cheers!

[leeyah]

For any such dilemma the best way to understand is to look up the meaning of individual characters, then you'll surely notice the difference between similar words.

户 means home, so add 外 and it becomes outside, in the exterior. Similar to 户外 is 室外 ：

>>室外温度

>>室外照亮

>>室外体操场.

>>户外运动 outdoors activities

>>户外凳子 outdoor benches

>>户外场所 outdoor location

>>户外天线/室外天线 outdoor antenna

So it's >>户外温度 (or 外头温度) not 野外温度 for outdoor temperature, but it's >>户外桌子&野餐桌 =picnic/camping tables (and anything else to do with camping/picnics/wildlife) because：

野 refers to the countryside, the fields, open air, ie. areas around the city：

>>野营 camping

>>野外实行

>>野外演习

>>野外使用品

露天 is similar to (but not exactly the same as) 野外 just look at the meaning of 露 it's telling you that something is happening unconcealed under the blue sky, in the open air >>露天停车站，露天宿营, 露天教室 (=室外课),露天大型运动场

外头 is colloquial for 户外/室外：

>>出去外头读书

>>难道他还在外头？

>>谁在外头闹呐？

>>看看外头有没有下雪了

>>挂在外头的衣服被风吹掉了楼下 or it can simply refer to the outside of anything, e.g. 窗户外头, 电脑外头

Besides 室外 I can't think of any other words meaning outdoors, except for 外 as prefix in some phrases, i.e. in some contexts：>> 外勤职工 outdoor staff, or in 外用漆 =室外漆 or perhaps even 街头, most commonly used for street rallies and such but 街头广告 is translated as outdoor advertising (syn. to 室外广告), but it still quite obviously refers to the distribution of flyers in the streets, so it's not exactly the same as the meaning of outdoors above. Other phrases? 大自然，The Great Outdoors

[analgesia]

户外：outdoors

野外：outdoors and esp far away from city（suburbs）

外头：somewhere outside without exact preference

露天：some places which with no shelter

[anonymoose]

外头

头 is just a suffix put on location/direction words like 面 and 边. So 外头 just means 外面 or 外边.

[Kenny同志]

Originally posted by Analgesia

户外：outdoors

野外：outdoors and esp far away from city（suburbs）

外头：somewhere outside without exact preference

露天：some places which with no shelter

I generally agree with Analgesia, but I would say 野(wild)外，to my best knowledge, is not suburbs. I consider it a nonresidential area, away from cities, especially where there are wild plants and animals.

外头: informal, colloquial use, means outdoors; being away from home (no matter it is half a kilometer or thousands of kilometers). For example, my Dad is fixing the aerial in the yard, and my mom asks where he is, then I'd reply, 他在外头修天线。

And if my Dad has left home and works in Beijing, I’d say 他在北京工作 or 他在外头工作 if it is not necessary to state the location.

Nowadays educated people seemingly tend to say 外面 instead of 外头. Anyway 外头 is quite popular in my hometown.

PS: 户外: especially connected with outdoor physical exercises

我会说，“我爸在外头（外面）修天线”，但我不会说，“我爸在户外修天线”。

Edited November 9, 2009 at 05:22 AM by kenny2006woo