出现
to appear; to emerge
chūxiàn
What does 出现 mean?
出现 (chūxiàn) means 'to appear,' 'to emerge,' or 'to show up' — to come into view or to come into existence where there was nothing before. It is used for both physical appearance (a person showing up, a rainbow appearing) and abstract appearance (a problem arising, a new trend emerging). Two notes for English speakers: first, 出现 is involuntary or neutral — it does not imply anyone made the thing appear.
For 'to show up' in the sense of a person deliberately arriving somewhere, 到 (dào) or 来 (lái) is more natural in casual speech. Second, 出现 is one of the most common verbs in news and writing for introducing a new phenomenon: 出现问题 (problems arise), 出现变化 (changes appear), 出现新产品 (a new product appears). The character 出 means 'out / exit' and 现 means 'now / visible' — together, 'to come into the visible now.'
Character breakdown
to come out; to go out; to emerge
now; present; to appear
Memory hook: 出 (come out) + 现 (visible/present) = to come out into the present — to appear.
Example sentences
天上出现了一道彩虹。
Tiānshàng chūxiàn le yí dào cǎihóng.
A rainbow appeared in the sky.
neutral
工作中出现了一些问题。
Gōngzuò zhōng chūxiàn le yìxiē wèntí.
Some problems have come up at work.
neutral
他突然出现在我面前。
Tā tūrán chūxiàn zài wǒ miànqián.
He suddenly appeared in front of me.
spoken
最近出现了很多新的电动车。
Zuìjìn chūxiàn le hěn duō xīn de diàndòngchē.
Recently a lot of new electric cars have appeared.
neutral
Common phrases with 出现
Synonyms
发生 means 'to happen / occur' — used for events and incidents (发生事故 an accident happened). 出现 is about something coming into view or existence (出现问题 a problem appears). Problems can both 发生 and 出现, but events 发生 and things/phenomena 出现.
显示 means 'to display / show' actively — a screen 显示 information, data 显示 a trend. 出现 is passive — something just appears on its own.
Don't confuse 出现 with
FAQ
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