看 (kàn): to look, to see
看 (kàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to look, to see.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 手 (structural) and 目 (structural). It ranks #76 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 看 shielding one's eyes 目 with a hand 手 to look to the distance. Its radical form 目 (eye) appears in many related characters such as 真 (zhēn, really), 着 (zhe, -ing, to wear), 睡 (shuì, to sleep).
Definitions
- to look, to see
Etymology & Origin
ideographicShielding one's eyes 目 with a hand 手 to look to the distance
Decomposition: ⿱手目 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 看 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 看
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 看见verb | kàn jiàn | to see | 1 |
| 看来verb | kàn lai | apparently | 3 |
| 看法noun | kàn fǎ | way of looking at a thing | 4 |
| 好看adjective | hǎo kàn | good-looking | 1 |
| 观看verb | guān kàn | to watch | 4 |
| 查看verb | chá kàn | to look over | 4 |
| 收看verb | shōu kàn | to watch (a TV program) | 5 |
| 看待verb | kàn dài | to look upon | 6 |
| 看好verb | kān hǎo | to keep an eye on | 6 |
| 看作verb | kàn zuò | to look upon as | 5 |
| 看望verb | kàn wàng | to pay a visit to | 5 |
| 看病verb | kàn bìng | to visit a doctor | 1 |
| 看重verb | kàn zhòng | to regard as important | 6 |
| 眼看adverb/verb | yǎn kàn | soon | 6 |
| 看似verb | kàn sì | to look as if | 6 |
| 难看adjective | nán kàn | ugly | 3 |
| 看中verb | kàn zhòng | to have a preference for | 6 |
| 看不起verb | kàn bu qǐ | to look down upon | 6 |
| 看得起verb | kàn de qǐ | to show respect for | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 看到verb | kàn dào | to see |
| 看看verb | kàn kan | to take a look at |
| 看上去verb | kàn shang qu | it would appear |
| 看起来 | kàn qǐ lai | seemingly |
| 照看verb | zhào kàn | to look after |
| 看出verb | kàn chū | to make out |
| 看守verb | kān shǒu | to guard |
| 偷看verb | tōu kàn | to peep |
| 看样子verb | kàn yàng zi | it seems |
| 看成verb | kàn chéng | to regard as |
| 看护verb | kān hù | to nurse |
| 试试看 | shì shì kàn | to give it a try |
| 看穿verb | kàn chuān | see through (a person, scheme, trick etc) |
| 看透verb | kàn tòu | to understand thoroughly |
| 看得见verb | kàn de jiàn | to be able to see |
看 appears in 103 compound words: 66 as the first character, 34 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 看 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (5)
to be astonished by someone's progress; to treat someone with renewed respect
Showing 4 of 5 idioms containing 看.
Example Sentences
请看这份报告，里面有详细的数据分析。
Qǐng kàn zhè fèn bàogào, lǐmiàn yǒu xiángxì de shùjù fēnxī.
Please look at this report; it contains detailed data analysis.
倒酱油、拌肉馅,看春晚机器人化身“新春大厨”
dǎo jiàng yóu , bàn ròu xiàn , kàn chūn wǎn jī qì rén huà shēn xīn chūn dà chú
Pour soy sauce, mix meat filling, and watch the Spring Festival Gala robot transform into a "New Year chef"
...书的工地大叔走红后第一个春节:继续种地、看书,..
. . . shū de gōng dì dà shū zǒu hóng hòu dì yī gè chūn jié : jì xù zhǒng dì , kàn shū , . .
... The first Spring Festival after the uncle of the book's construction site became popular: continue to farm and read books,..
...形机器人闹新春:2026年产业发展有何新看点?
. . . xíng jī qì rén nào xīn chūn nián chǎn yè fā zhǎn yǒu hé xīn kàn diǎn ?
... Shape Robotics New Year: What's New for the Industry in 2026?
冬奥会|19日看点:看大项迎首秀 看中国再冲金
dōng ào huì rì kàn diǎn kàn dà xiàng yíng shǒu xiù kàn zhōng guó zài chōng jīn
Winter Olympics | 19 days to watch: see the big events to welcome the debut of the watch China again gold rush
在浙江,看完电影票根别扔!可以当钱用
zài zhè jiāng , kàn wán diàn yǐng piào gēn bié rēng ! kě yǐ dāng qián yòng
In Zhejiang, don't throw away your movie ticket stubs! They can be used as money.
我回来了！啊？有人来看我们吗？
Wǒ huílai le! ǎ? Yǒu rén lái kàn wǒmen ma?
I'm back! Oh? Have we got a guest?
我能看一眼那本杂志吗？
Wǒ néng kàn yīyǎn nèi běn zázhì ma?
Can I have a look at the magazine?
为什么你不来看我们？
Wèishénme nǐ bù lái kàn wǒmen?
Why don't you come visit us?
我应该去看医生吗？
Wǒ yīnggāi qù kàn yīshēng ma?
Shall I go for the doctor?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 看 (kàn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 看 have?
What is the radical of 看?
What are the components of 看?
What are common words containing 看?
What characters sound the same as 看 (kàn)?
Is 看 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 看 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.