音読み: ガイ・ゲ
訓読み: そと・ほか・はずす
画数: 5
部首: ゆうべ（夕）
Meaning
Outside / Exterior / Foreign
- Basic forms
- 外す — to remove; to take off; to unfasten / base form
- 外します — (I) remove; take off / masu form
- 外した — removed; took off / ta form
- 外して — remove and …; please take off / te-form
- 外さない — do not remove / negative form
- 外せば — if (you) remove / conditional
- 外せ・外しなさい — remove it! / imperative
- Other common forms
- 外したい — want to remove / 〜たい form
- 外せる — can remove; can take off / potential
- 外せた — was able to remove / past potential
- 外せない — cannot remove; cannot take off / negative potential
- More
- 外そう — let’s remove / 〜よう form
- 外さなかった — didn’t remove / past negative
- 外している — is removing; is off (state, e.g., “eyes are averted”) / progressive
外す（はずす） is a godan verb ending in す. The stem shifts as す → し → し, producing forms like 外す・外します・外して・外した. Often used for removing attachments (メガネを外す), unfastening (ボタンを外す), or stepping away from a place (席を外す).
- 外国 — foreign country
- 外出 — going out
- 外人 — foreigner
- 海外 — overseas
- 外食 — eating out
- 外観 — outward appearance
More examples - tap to expand
- 外交 — diplomacy
- 外道 — heresy, wickedness
- 例外 — exception
- 圏外 — out of range
- 外野 — outfield (baseball)
Compound Verbs - tap to expand
- 踏み外す — to miss a step; to go astray
- 取り外す — to remove; to detach
- 外し忘れる — to forget to take off
- 外し間違える — to remove the wrong one
- 外れ落ちる — to come off and fall
This character originally implied separation from a boundary or place. It appears in daily life when talking about foreign places, leaving home, or locations beyond a known space.