现

現
xiàn
adjective #3,129

Meanings

  1. 1 to appear; to show
  2. 2 present; current; now

Examples

HSK 1
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn le?
What time is it now?
HSK 3
Tā fāxiàn le yígè wèntí.
He discovered a problem.

Tips

usage
现 appears in 现在 (xiànzài, now), 发现 (fāxiàn, to discover), 出现 (chūxiàn, to appear), 现代 (xiàndài, modern), 现金 (xiànjīn, cash), 现实 (xiànshí, reality), 表现 (biǎoxiàn, performance).

Components

radical
王 yù
jade (radical form)
Left indexing radical - the four-stroke 王 here is the contracted form of 玉 (jade), distinguished from king-王 by context. The original sense of 现 was the lustrous gleam emerging from polished jade - what becomes visible. From this 'reveal' meaning grew 'appear, present, currently visible.'
phonetic
见 jiàn
to see; visible
Right 见 supplies the sound xiàn (drifted from jiàn, same series) and a strong semantic hint - 'to see, become visible.' A jade gem becoming seen = something appearing. Phonetic plus near-perfect semantic alignment, a rare clean overlap.

Stroke Order

现 xiàn