(kàn) - to look, to watch, to read, to see in Mandarin
kànTraditional: 看
Translation
to look, to watch, to read, to see
Word origin
看 means to look, watch or read. It is an ideograph showing a hand (手, here written 龵) shading the eye (目), the gesture of peering into the distance.
- Origin
- ideograph
- Root
- 手 (hand) over 目 (eye), shading the eye to look
Stroke order
看
Examples
？
What book are you reading?
。
Let us go watch a film.
，！
Look, there is a cat over there!
李。
Please watch my luggage for me.
。
The doctor can only see you tomorrow.
Appears in 8 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 看.
Used in
Stories
(21)你去吗？
1 min read · Core 1000
在这里
1 min read · Core 1000
不知道在哪里
2 min read · Core 1000
点错了
2 min read · Core 1000
错过公车
3 min read · Core 1000
大伟的工作
3 min read · Core 1000
看医生
3 min read · Core 1000
迷路
3 min read · Core 1000
上班第一天
3 min read · Core 1000
下雨的下午
3 min read · Core 1000
新的医生
3 min read · Core 1000
新邻居
3 min read · Core 1000
最后的车
3 min read · Core 1000
今年去哪里
4 min read · Core 1000
新工作的第一天
4 min read · Core 1000
错过的火车
5 min read · Core 5000
等了两个小时
5 min read · Core 5000
等了三年
5 min read · Core 5000
想起那个约定
5 min read · Core 5000
小华的比赛
5 min read · Core 5000
有钱没时间
5 min read · Core 5000
Grammar articles
(26)Mandarin Adjectives as Stative Verbs: Why 'I Am Cold' Is 我冷, Not 我是冷
Mandarin Advanced Grammar (C1-C2 / HSK 6+): Chengyu, Classical Remnants, and Register
Mandarin Aspect Markers: 了, 在/正在, 过 - the System That Replaces Tense
The Mandarin 把 (bǎ) Construction: Fronting the Object to Say What You Did To It
Mandarin Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
Mandarin Co-verbs: 从, 到, 在, 用, 坐, 给 - the Prepositions That Look Like Verbs
Mandarin Complements: 得 for Manner, Directional Endings, and How to Attach a Result to a Verb
Mandarin Verb Conjugation: Why It Doesn't Exist and What Replaces It
Mandarin Conjunctions: 虽然…但是, 因为…所以, 如果…就 and the Paired Structures That Join Clauses
Asking How + Adjective in Mandarin with 多: 多高, 多远, 多长, 多大
Figurative Directional Complements in Mandarin: 起来, 下去 and 出来 Beyond Up, Down and Out
Duration Complements in Mandarin (时量补语): How to Say How Long an Action Lasts
The Mandarin Durative 着 (zhe): Marking a State That Continues (门开着, 拿着书, 笑着说)
The Experiential 过 (guò) in Mandarin: Saying You Have Ever Done Something
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
The Two 了 in Mandarin: Completion 了 After the Verb vs Change-of-State 了 at the End
Mandarin Negation: 不 (bù) vs 没 (méi), and Why 不有 Does Not Exist
Mandarin Potential Complements: Can You Reach the Result? (吃得完, 听不懂, 买不起)
Mandarin Relative Clauses with 的 (de): How the Modifier Goes Before the Noun
Mandarin Requests and Imperatives: 请, 别, 不要, the Softening Particles 吧/啊, and Verb Reduplication
Mandarin Resultative Complements: Fusing a Result onto the Verb (看见, 吃完, 找到)
The Mandarin 是…的 (shì...de) Construction: Highlighting When, Where, and How Something Happened
The Three de in Mandarin: 的, 得, and 地 and How to Tell Them Apart
Topic-Comment Structure in Mandarin: Fronting 这本书我看过 and Why Word Order Bends
Mandarin Verb-Object Verbs: Why 'To Eat' Is 吃饭 and How It Splits Apart
Mandarin Word Order: SVO, Topic-Comment, and the 把 Construction That Reorders Everything
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 2.