看电视(kàn diàn shì) - to watch television, to watch TV in Mandarin

看电视 (kàn diàn shì) means to watch television. 看 (kàn) is the general verb for looking, watching or reading, and 电视 (diàn shì) is the noun for a television set or the medium of TV.

The phrase separates easily: 看了一个小时的电视 (kàn le yí gè xiǎo shí de diàn shì), "watched an hour of television", slots the duration between 看 (kàn) and 电视 (diàn shì).

看电视 (kàn diàn shì) sits alongside 看电影 (kàn diàn yǐng, "to watch a film") and 听音乐 (tīng yīn yuè, "to listen to music") as one of the standard hobby phrases every learner meets early on.