看见
to see; to catch sight of
HSK level
- Pinyin
- kànjiàn
- Part of speech
- verb
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 13
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 3
Stroke order for 看见
看见 is written with 13 strokes (看: 9, 见: 4). The animation replays automatically.
What does 看见 mean?
看见 (kànjiàn) means 'to see' — specifically, to successfully perceive something with your eyes.
It's a resultative compound: 看 (to look) + 见 (to perceive / sense), so the literal meaning is 'look and perceive.' The distinction English speakers must learn: 看 alone means 'to look at' (the action), while 看见 means 'to see' (the result). You can 看 (look) without 看见 (seeing) anything — for example, if it's too dark.
So 'I looked but didn't see it' is 我看了，可是没看见. Negation is irregular: don't say 不看见; the natural negation is 没看见 ('didn't see') for completed action, or 看不见 ('can't see' / 'unable to see') for the inability sense. 看见 is for visual perception only — for hearing, use 听见 (tīngjiàn).
Character by character
Memory hook: 'Look + perceive' — you looked AND it registered. Both verbs together = successful seeing.
Hear 看见 in real episodes
看见 appears in 3 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
买不到的人，看见网上也有人卖袋子，要二十美元。
People who cannot buy one see that other people are also selling the bag online, asking for twenty dollars.
Coffee Shops Turn Tote Bags Into Branding
他看见飞机上有网，很高兴。
He saw that there was internet on the plane and was very happy.
Fast Plane Wi-Fi Brings Noisy Work CallsElementary
你不能看见，你也不知道。
You can't see them, and you don't know.
Francis Halzen Wins the Physics Nobel for Turning a Cubic Kilometer of Antarctic Ice Into a Telescope for Ghost ParticlesBeginner
Example sentences
我看见他了。
Wǒ kànjiàn tā le.
I saw him.
spoken
你看见我的手机了吗？
Nǐ kànjiàn wǒ de shǒujī le ma?
Did you see my phone?
spoken
天太黑，我看不见。
Tiān tài hēi, wǒ kàn bu jiàn.
It's too dark, I can't see.
spoken
我没看见你来。
Wǒ méi kànjiàn nǐ lái.
I didn't see you come in.
neutral
Common phrases with 看见
Synonyms
看到 is nearly identical to 看见 — both mean 'to see / catch sight of.' 看到 is slightly more common in writing and emphasizes the moment of perception ('to arrive at seeing'). In speech, both are used interchangeably.
见 alone often means 'to meet' (见朋友 = meet a friend), not just 'see.' 看见 specifically describes visual perception of an object; 见 leans toward meeting people.
Don't confuse 看见 with
看 is the action 'to look at / watch'; 看见 is the result 'to actually see.' 我在看 = 'I'm looking'; 我看见了 = 'I saw it.' Beginners often use 看 when they need 看见, especially with negation: 'I didn't see it' is 我没看见, not 我没看.
Same pattern, different sense. 看见 = see (eyes), 听见 = hear (ears). Don't mix them: 听见 a noise, 看见 a person.
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 看见 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
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