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HSK 3

出现

to appear; to emerge

verbneutral
出
chū1st tone
现
xiàn4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
chūxiàn
Part of speech
verb
Level
HSK 3
Strokes
13
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 出现

出现 is written with 13 strokes (出: 5, 现: 8). The animation replays automatically.

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 by character

出chūto come out; to go out; to emerge
+
现xiànnow; present; to appear
=
出现

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

出现问题chūxiàn wèntífor a problem to arise
出现变化chūxiàn biànhuàfor changes to appear
突然出现tūrán chūxiànto appear suddenly
出现在chūxiàn zàito appear in / at
经常出现jīngcháng chūxiànto appear frequently

Synonyms

发生fāshēng

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xiǎnshì

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

出去chūqù

出去 means 'to go out' (someone exits a place). 出现 means 'to appear / come into view.' They share 出 but mean opposite kinds of motion: leaving vs. coming into sight.

现在xiànzài

现在 means 'now / at present' — a time word. 出现 is a verb meaning 'to appear.' Both share 现 but function very differently.

FAQ

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