见 (jiàn) · to see; to catch sight of

Meanings

1 to see; to catch sight of
2 to meet; to call on
3 to be exposed to; to come into contact with
4 opinion; view

Examples

HSK 1

明天见！

Míngtiān jiàn!

See you tomorrow!

HSK 1

很高兴见到你。

Hěn gāoxìng jiàndào nǐ.

Nice to meet you.

HSK 6

你对这件事有什么见解？

Nǐ duì zhè jiàn shì yǒu shénme jiànjiě?

What's your view on this matter?

Tips

usage

Three big jobs in modern Chinese: (1) farewell tag - 再见, 明天见, 回头见; (2) result complement after sensory verbs - 看见 (saw), 听见 (heard), 梦见 (dreamt of); (3) the noun 'opinion / view' in 意见, 见解, 高见.

memory

The character is its own picture clue: an enormous eye 目 riding on a pair of legs - a person whose head has become all eye, walking around looking. Once you see the eye-on-legs, you'll always recognise 见 and its descendants 观, 觉, 览.

Components

pictograph

见 jiàn

to see; to meet

Pictograph of a person with an enlarged eye on top - a stick figure where the head is replaced by a giant eye. The simplified form keeps the picture: the upper rectangle (originally 目, now flattened) sits on a pair of legs below. 见 is its own Kangxi radical (#147) and anchors 观, 觉, 览. Simplified from the traditional form, which kept the eye on a full pair of legs.

Radical

See Kangxi #147

The 'see' radical. A compound ideograph of 目 (eye) over 人 (person), simplified from traditional 見, a person with the eye prominently raised. Modestly productive, indexing characters of vision and perception: 观 (observe), 觉 (perceive), 览 (view), 视 (look at, although 视 is filed under 礻).