看起来
Reach for 看起来 when you're describing how something appears at first glance — your visual impression, before you've confirmed anything. 'It looks expensive.' 'She seems tired.' It's the spoken-Chinese version of English 'looks' or 'seems' for visual evidence. The judgment that follows is yours, based on what you can see, and you're hedging that it might not be the whole story.
Structure
[SUBJECT] 看起来 [ADJECTIVE/DESCRIPTION]
kàn qǐlái
How to Think About It
看起来 is the visual-only verdict. 看 = look, 起来 = start/come into being — together: 'when I start looking, here's what comes up.' The crucial thing is the speaker is hedging — they're reporting an appearance, not a fact. Swap 看 for 听 (听起来) and you're judging by sound; swap for 闻 (闻起来) and you're judging by smell. The 起来 part is what makes it 'as it strikes me,' not 'as it actually is.'
Examples
这家餐厅看起来不错。
Zhè jiā cāntīng kàn qǐlái búcuò.
This restaurant looks pretty good.
你今天看起来很累。
Nǐ jīntiān kàn qǐlái hěn lèi.
You look tired today.
外面看起来要下雨了。
Wàimiàn kàn qǐlái yào xià yǔ le.
It looks like it's about to rain outside.
Common Mistake
Learners attach 看起来 to a noun phrase as if it meant 'looks like' the way English does ('looks like a teacher'). In Chinese, you need 像 for the 'looks-like-X' meaning; 看起来 takes an adjective or full description, not a bare noun.
他看起来一个老师。
他看起来像一个老师。
Don't Confuse With
好像
好像 is 'seems' based on any evidence — visual, logical, hearsay. 看起来 is strictly visual. Use 好像 when you can't actually see the thing ('他好像生病了' — based on how he's acting / what I heard).
看上去
Near-synonym, slightly more formal and written. Daily speech leans on 看起来; news and essays often pick 看上去. Meaning overlaps almost entirely.
Verb + 出来
看起来 reports an impression that may be wrong; 看出来 reports a conclusion you've actually drawn ('我看出来他在撒谎' — I can tell he's lying).
Practice
这个蛋糕 ___ 起来很好吃。
Show answer
看
他看 ___ 不太高兴。
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起来
Put in order: [看起来 / 这个 / 简单 / 问题 / 很]
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这个问题看起来很简单。
Translate to Chinese: 'She looks younger than her age.'
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她看起来比实际年龄年轻。
Describe a person or thing using 看起来.
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Example answer: 老板今天看起来心情很好。 (The boss looks like he's in a good mood today.)
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: