How do you remember the character 看?

Place your hand over your eye to look far away. InkSeal turns this into a full illustration where the strokes of 看 live inside the artwork.

What are the components of 看?

看 is built from 龵 (), 目 (eye). Recognizing recurring components like these makes new characters much easier to learn.

What common words use 看?

Common words with 看 include 看到 (kàn dào, to see or catch sight of), 看书 (kàn shū, to read a book), 好看 (hǎo kàn, good-looking or enjoyable to watch).

Chinese character · HSK 1

看 (kàn) — “to look / to see”

Q: What does the Chinese character 看 mean?

看 (pronounced kàn) means “to look / to see” in Mandarin Chinese. It is an HSK 1 character. The character visually combines a hand (龵) placed over an eye (目), representing the universal gesture of shielding one's eyes from the sun to look into the distance.

The character visually combines a hand (龵) placed over an eye (目), representing the universal gesture of shielding one's eyes from the sun to look into the distance.

Memory cue

Place your hand over your eye to look far away.

Visual mnemonic illustration of the Chinese character 看 (to look / to see) — The strokes of 看 stay visible inside the illustration.

Video mnemonic

Watch 看 in motion

See the visual story unfold, then connect it to the words and sentences below.

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Common ways to use 看

These examples move from literal seeing to reading, appearance, opinion, and the alternate kān sense “look after.”

看到

kàn dào · to see or catch sight of

我在公园看到了老师。

I saw the teacher in the park.

看书

kàn shū · to read a book

我每天晚上看书。

I read every evening.

好看

hǎo kàn · good-looking or enjoyable to watch

这件衣服很好看。

This item of clothing looks very nice.

看法

kàn fǎ · a view or opinion

我想听听你的看法。

I’d like to hear your opinion.

看

kān · to watch over or look after

周末请你帮我看孩子。

Please help me look after the child this weekend.

Usage note: When 看 means guarding or caring for someone, it is read kān rather than the usual kàn.

Inside the character

龵 — meaning component.
目 (eye) — meaning component. Often marks seeing, watching, attention, or anything to do with the gaze.

Where 看 comes from

An ideogrammatic compound (会意): originally depicting a hand (龵) positioned horizontally above an eye (目) to block the glare and focus on a distant object.

Learn 看 the visual way. InkSeal pairs every HSK 1–6 character with an illustration like this one, Common-use words and sentences, component breakdowns, etymology, and recall-first review. The first 100 characters are free.

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More characters: 竹 (zhú, bamboo) · 策 (cè, strategy / plan) · 算 (suàn, to calculate / to compute) — or browse the full character library.