看 (kàn) — look / watch / read / see (a doctor) | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

看 (kàn) is the verb of directing your attention at something — with your eyes, or, by extension, with your judgement. Where English fans out into "look," "watch," "read," "see," and "visit," Chinese funnels them all through 看. You 看 a book, 看 the TV, 看 a film, 看 a friend, 看 a doctor — and when you offer an opinion or say something "depends," that too is 看. The single most useful thing to absorb is that 看 is the default verb for reading silently for content: a novel, a newspaper, your phone. Save 读 (dú) and 念 (niàn) for reading aloud.

Sense 1: look at / watch / read (silently)

Any focused visual intake — watching, reading, glancing at a screen — is 看. It says nothing about whether you succeeded in perceiving; it names the activity.

我喜欢睡觉前看一会儿书。

wǒ xǐhuan shuìjiào qián kàn yíhuìr shū

I like to read for a while before bed.

你昨天看那场比赛了吗？太精彩了！

nǐ zuótiān kàn nà chǎng bǐsài le ma? tài jīngcǎi le

Did you watch that match yesterday? It was amazing!

别一直看手机了，快吃饭吧。

bié yìzhí kàn shǒujī le, kuài chī fàn ba

Stop staring at your phone — come eat.

Sense 2: visit / see (a doctor)

看 also means to go and see a person: 看朋友 "visit a friend," 看爷爷奶奶 "visit one's grandparents." And crucially, "see a doctor" is 看医生 or 看病 — both use 看, whether it is the patient consulting or the doctor seeing patients.

你脸色不太好，快去看医生吧。

nǐ liǎnsè bú tài hǎo, kuài qù kàn yīshēng ba

You look a bit off — go see a doctor.

周末我要回老家看爷爷奶奶。

zhōumò wǒ yào huí lǎojiā kàn yéye nǎinai

This weekend I'm going back home to visit my grandparents.

我下午请假去医院看病。

wǒ xiàwǔ qǐng jià qù yīyuàn kàn bìng

I'm taking the afternoon off to go to the hospital.

Sense 3: reckon / consider — 我看…

Prefacing a clause with 我看 turns 看 into "I reckon / the way I see it" — a softer, more offhand opinion than 我觉得, often flagging a prediction or a suggestion.

我看今天会下雨，带把伞吧。

wǒ kàn jīntiān huì xià yǔ, dài bǎ sǎn ba

I reckon it'll rain today — take an umbrella.

你看这样行不行？

nǐ kàn zhèyàng xíng bu xíng

Do you think this'll work?

Sense 4: depend on — 看情况

看 X can mean "it hinges on X": 看情况 "it depends (on the situation)," 看天气 "depends on the weather," 看你 "up to you."

明天去不去爬山，看天气吧。

míngtiān qù bu qù pá shān, kàn tiānqì ba

Whether we go hiking tomorrow depends on the weather.

能不能成功，就看你自己了。

néng bu néng chénggōng, jiù kàn nǐ zìjǐ le

Whether you succeed is up to you.

Sense 5: try-and-see — 看看 and V + 看

Reduplicated, 看看 (kànkan) "have a look" softens a request. Tacked onto another verb, V + 看 means "do it and see": 试试看 "try and see," 尝尝看 "taste and see."

我能看看你手机里的照片吗？

wǒ néng kànkan nǐ shǒujī lǐ de zhàopiàn ma

Can I take a look at the photos on your phone?

你尝一口看看，好不好吃？

nǐ cháng yì kǒu kànkan, hǎo bu hǎochī

Have a bite and see — is it good?

Complements built on 看

看 is the base for a cluster of complements. 看见 / 看到 add the result "catch sight of"; 看懂 adds comprehension "understand by reading/watching"; the potential forms 看得懂 / 看不懂 say whether you can.

我在人群里看见他了，就跟他打了个招呼。

wǒ zài rénqún lǐ kànjiàn tā le, jiù gēn tā dǎ le ge zhāohu

I spotted him in the crowd, so I said hi.

这本书太难了，我看不懂。

zhè běn shū tài nán le, wǒ kàn bu dǒng

This book is too hard — I can't make sense of it.

Key collocations

Phrase	Pinyin	Meaning
看书	kàn shū	read (a book)
看电视	kàn diànshì	watch TV
看电影	kàn diànyǐng	see a film
看报纸	kàn bàozhǐ	read the paper
看医生 / 看病	kàn yīshēng / kàn bìng	see a doctor
看朋友	kàn péngyou	visit a friend
看情况	kàn qíngkuàng	it depends
看看	kànkan	have a look
看见 / 看到	kànjiàn / kàndào	see, catch sight of
看懂	kàn dǒng	understand (by reading/watching)
好看	hǎokàn	good-looking; enjoyable to watch/read

Grammar notes

The activity/result split is worth internalising: 看 is the looking, 看见 is the seeing. You can 看 for an hour and still not 看见 what you were after — the complement 见 supplies the outcome. This contrast has its own page, 看 vs 看见, and 见 as a perception complement is treated at 看见 / 听见 (perception 见). For the comprehension result, see 懂 as a complement and, for 看得懂 / 看不懂, the potential complement with resultatives. The softening reduplication 看看 is part of the wider monosyllabic verb reduplication pattern.

On word choice: reserve 读 (dú) for reading aloud, reciting, or "studying / attending school" (读大学), and 念 (niàn) for reading out loud. Silent reading for pleasure or information is 看. And keep 看 (actively look at) apart from 见 / 看见 (the seeing, or "meet") and the comprehension verb 懂.

Common Mistakes

1. Using 读 for silent leisure reading. A novel or newspaper read for yourself is 看; 读 implies aloud or academic study.

❌ 我每天早上在地铁上读小说。

Marked — 读 suggests reading aloud/studying. For silent reading, use 看.

✅ 我每天早上在地铁上看小说。

wǒ měi tiān zǎoshang zài dìtiě shàng kàn xiǎoshuō

I read novels on the subway every morning.

2. Using 见 for 'see a doctor'. 见 is "meet"; consulting a doctor is 看医生 / 看病.

❌ 我明天要去见医生。

Incorrect — 见 means 'meet'. Seeing a doctor is 看医生 / 看病.

✅ 我明天要去看医生。

wǒ míngtiān yào qù kàn yīshēng

I'm going to see a doctor tomorrow.

3. Using 看了 to ask whether someone 'saw' something. 看了 asks if you looked; to ask if you caught sight of it, you need 看见了.

❌ 天上有个热气球，你看了吗？

This asks 'did you look?' — to ask 'did you spot it?', use 看见了吗.

✅ 天上有个热气球，你看见了吗？

tiān shàng yǒu ge rèqìqiú, nǐ kànjiàn le ma

There's a hot-air balloon up there — did you see it?

4. Inventing a special verb for 'watch TV'. Watching, reading, and looking are all 看 — don't calque them into different verbs.

❌ 我晚上喜欢望电视。

Incorrect — 望 is 'gaze into the distance'. Watching TV is 看电视.

✅ 我晚上喜欢看电视。

wǒ wǎnshang xǐhuan kàn diànshì

I like watching TV in the evening.

Key Takeaways

看 = directed attention: look / watch / read silently (看书, 看电视), visit / see a doctor (看朋友, 看医生), reckon (我看…), and depend on (看情况).
Silent reading is 看; keep 读 / 念 for reading aloud, reciting, or studying.
看 names the activity; 看见 / 看到 name the result — you can look without seeing.
看看 and V + 看 mean "give it a try and see."
Build on it freely: 看懂, 看不懂, 好看.

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