xiàn
adjective #3,129

Meanings

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

Examples

Xiànzài jǐ diǎn le?
What time is it now?
Tā fāxiàn le yīgè wèntí.
He discovered a problem.

Tips

usage
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
jade (radical form)
Left indexing radical — the four-stroke here is the contracted form of (jade), distinguished from king- by context. The original sense of was the lustrous gleam emerging from polished jade — what becomes visible. From this 'reveal' meaning grew 'appear, present, currently visible.'
phonetic
jiàn
to see; visible
Right 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

xiàn