ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

to look / to watch / to read

kàn
9 strokes · 手 (hand) over 目 (eye) · HSK 1

Where 看 comes from

看 is a hand (手, flattened on top) over an eye (目). It's the gesture of shading your eyes with your hand to LOOK into the distance — exactly what you do squinting at a far-off mountain. Hand + eye = to look.

看 in Chinese culture

看 is wonderfully flexible: 看书 (read a book), 看电视 (watch TV), 看朋友 (visit a friend), 看医生 (see a doctor). And remember 好 from week one? 好看 means 'good-looking' — the funFact promised you this. To say something looks good, you literally say it's 'good to look at'.

Example

好看 hǎokàn — good-looking / pretty

这个很好看。
Zhège hěn hǎokàn.
This one is very good-looking.

How to remember it

A hand (手) raised over the eye (目), shading it to LOOK far away.

好 + 看 = 好看 (good-looking). 好 + 吃 = 好吃 (delicious). 好 + 听 = 好听 (nice-sounding). 好 + any sense verb = 'good to [sense]'. You now hold the whole pattern.

Same sound, different tones

1st kān
to publish
3rd kǎn
to chop
4th kàn
to look

Words unlocked by 看

好看 hǎokàn
good-looking
看看 kànkan
have a look
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