见 (jiàn) is the verb of successful perception and meeting. On its own it means "see / meet" a person (想见你, 再见). Attached to another verb it becomes a resultative complement that marks the perception actually landing: 看 is "look," but 看见 is "see"; 听 is "listen," but 听见 is "hear." And in its two-syllable form 见面 (jiànmiàn, "meet face to face") it's a separable verb that famously cannot take an object directly — the single most common 见 mistake. Master those three faces and 见 is done.
Sense 1: see / meet (someone)
As a bare verb, 见 most often means "meet / see" a person, especially an arranged or purposeful meeting. It's the 见 inside 再见 (zàijiàn, "goodbye," literally "see again").
我好想见你。
wǒ hǎo xiǎng jiàn nǐ
I really want to see you.
明天见！
míngtiān jiàn
See you tomorrow!
老板下午要见一个客户。
lǎobǎn xiàwǔ yào jiàn yí ge kèhù
The boss is meeting a client this afternoon. — 见 = have a (business) meeting with.
Sense 2: 见面 — the separable verb you can't put an object on
见面 is a 离合词: 见 ("meet") + 面 ("face"). Because 面 is already its built-in object, you can't stack another object after it. To say who you're meeting, use a coverb like 跟 / 和 before 见面, or split the word and slot material inside.
我们好久没见面了。
wǒmen hǎojiǔ méi jiànmiàn le
We haven't met up in ages.
你什么时候能跟他见面？
nǐ shénme shíhou néng gēn tā jiànmiàn
When can you meet with him? — the person rides on 跟, never after 见面.
他们只见过一次面。
tāmen zhǐ jiàn guò yí cì miàn
They've only met once. — 过 and 一次 split the word: 见…面.
Sense 3: resultative complement — 看见, 听见, 遇见
This is where 见 earns its keep. Stuck onto a perception verb, 见 says the perceiving succeeded: 看见 "catch sight of," 听见 "hear," 遇见 "run into," 梦见 "see in a dream." The base verb is the activity; 见 is the result.
我看见他从楼里出来了。
wǒ kànjiàn tā cóng lóu lǐ chūlái le
I saw him come out of the building. — 看 (look) + 见 (perceive).
你听见了吗？门铃响了。
nǐ tīngjiàn le ma? mén líng xiǎng le
Did you hear that? The doorbell rang.
我在书店遇见了一个大学同学。
wǒ zài shūdiàn yùjiàn le yí ge dàxué tóngxué
I ran into a college classmate at the bookstore. — 遇见, an unplanned encounter.
Sense 4: 见到 — manage to see / lay eyes on
见到 (or 见着, jiànzháo, colloquial) stresses attaining the sighting — meeting someone in person, finally getting to see them.
见到你真高兴。
jiàndào nǐ zhēn gāoxìng
So glad to meet you.
我一直没见到他本人。
wǒ yìzhí méi jiàndào tā běnrén
I never got to see him in person.
As a noun: 意见, 见解
见 also forms nouns of opinion and insight — 意见 "opinion / objection," 见解 "considered view," 成见 "prejudice."
我对这件事没什么意见。
wǒ duì zhè jiàn shì méi shénme yìjiàn
I don't have any objection to this.
他对市场很有见解。
tā duì shìchǎng hěn yǒu jiànjiě
He has real insight into the market.
Key collocations
| Phrase | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 再见 | zàijiàn | goodbye (lit. "see again") |
| 见面 | jiànmiàn | meet face to face (separable) |
| 看见 | kànjiàn | see, catch sight of |
| 听见 | tīngjiàn | hear |
| 遇见 / 碰见 | yùjiàn / pèngjiàn | run into, come across |
| 见到 | jiàndào | get to see, meet |
| 意见 | yìjiàn | opinion, objection |
| 好久不见 | hǎojiǔ bú jiàn | long time no see |
Grammar notes
In modern speech a bare 见 for "saw" sounds clipped or bookish; day-to-day you say 看见 / 看到 / 见到. Bare 见 stays alive mainly in set frames (再见, 明天见, 好久不见), in formal/written meetings (见客户, 接见), and as the complement itself. Note that 再见 and 好久不见 are fixed — you can't hang an object on them (see the mistakes below). For the activity side of looking and watching, see 看 (look / watch); the perception complement in depth is on resultative 见 (perception).
Watch out for near-synonyms
见 is laying eyes on / meeting; 认识 (rènshi) is being acquainted with / recognizing. 我见过他 = "I've met him (once, in the flesh)"; 我认识他 = "I know him (we're acquainted)." You can 见 a stranger but you can only 认识 someone you actually know — see 认识 (know / recognize).
Common Mistakes
1. Putting an object on 见面. 面 is already the object — the person goes on 跟 / 和, or you use bare 见.
❌ 我明天见面我的老师。
Incorrect — 见面 can't take an object. Say 跟老师见面, or drop 面: 见我的老师.
✅ 我明天跟老师见面。
wǒ míngtiān gēn lǎoshī jiànmiàn
I'm meeting my teacher tomorrow.
2. Using bare 见 for a chance encounter. For "ran into," the result needs 到 or a verb like 遇见 / 碰见.
❌ 我今天在路上见了小王。
Sounds incomplete — a chance sighting takes 遇见 / 碰见 / 看见, not bare 见了.
✅ 我今天在路上碰见了小王。
wǒ jīntiān zài lùshang pèngjiàn le Xiǎo Wáng
I ran into Xiao Wang on the street today.
3. Adding an object to the fixed phrase 好久不见. It's frozen — no object allowed.
❌ 好久不见你！
Incorrect — 好久不见 is a set phrase. Say just 好久不见！or 好久没见到你了。
✅ 好久不见！
hǎojiǔ bú jiàn
Long time no see!
4. Using 见 for watching a film. Screen-watching is 看, not 见.
❌ 我们晚上去见电影吧。
Wrong verb — you 看 a movie (an activity), you don't 见 it.
✅ 我们晚上去看电影吧。
wǒmen wǎnshang qù kàn diànyǐng ba
Let's go see a movie tonight.
Key Takeaways
- Bare 见 = meet / see a person, alive mostly in set frames (再见, 明天见) and formal meetings (见客户).
- 见面 is separable — no direct object; use 跟他见面 or split it: 见了一次面.
- As a complement, 见 marks successful perception: 看→看见, 听→听见, 遇→遇见. Negate with 没.
- 见到 stresses getting to see someone; 意见 / 见解 are the noun senses (opinion, insight).
- 见 (lay eyes on) ≠ 认识 (be acquainted): 我见过他 but 我认识他.
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- 看 (kàn) — look / watch / read / see (a doctor)HSK 1 — 看 (kàn) is directed attention with the eyes or the mind: look at, watch, read silently (看书, 看电视), visit or see a doctor (看朋友, 看医生), reckon (我看…), and depend on (看情况). English splits watch / read / look / see — Chinese keeps one verb.
- 认识 (rènshi) — know / recognize (a person)HSK 1 — 认识 (rènshi) is 'be acquainted with, recognize' — a person, a character, or a road you've encountered before. It's one of the several verbs Chinese splits English 'know' into: 认识 (acquainted), 知道 (know a fact), 会 (know how to), 懂 (understand).