HSK 1 · Common Verbs

看 kàn “to look” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 看 means

to look, watch
to see
to look at
to read
to visit

More meanings from CC-CEDICT

to call on
to consider
to regard as
to look after

How to say 看

看kàn4th tone, falling

看 in a sentence

我今天早上看了电视。
Wǒ jīntiān zǎoshang kàn le diànshì.
I watched TV this morning.
Sentence #389795 from Tatoeba
他喜欢看报纸。
Tā xǐhuan kàn bàozhǐ.
He likes to read newspapers.
Sentence #1450538 from Tatoeba
看医生: to see a doctor
你去看医生了吗？
Nǐ qù kàn yīshēng le ma?
Did you see a doctor?
Sentence #715810 from Tatoeba

How 看 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 看 (kàn) with each of its parts in a different colour

看kànto see; to look at

手hand · shǒu
目eye · mù

Memory aidA hand 手 shading the eyes 目: to look.

How to write 看

看 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

看 (kàn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it — Stroke order chart for 看 (kàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 看

Words with 看

看见kànjiàn · to see 看病kànbìng · to visit a doctor 好看hǎokàn · good-looking 看来kànlái · it seems 难看nánkàn · ugly 看法kànfǎ · way of looking at a thing 看望kànwàng · to visit 看不起kànbuqǐ · to look down upon 看待kàndài · to regard

More words: Common Verbs

有yǒu · to have 在zài · to be at 去qù · to go 来lái · to come 听tīng · to listen 说shuō · to speak 读dú · to read 写xiě · to write

FAQs

What does 看 mean in English?

看 (kàn) means “to look, watch” or “to see”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.

How do you pronounce 看?

Say it kàn: kàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.

Is 看 the same in Traditional Chinese?

Yes. 看 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.

How do you type 看 on a keyboard?

Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 看 from the suggestions. Typing kan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.

What HSK level is 看?

看 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.