Chinese word

只见

Pronunciation

Pinyinzhǐ jiàn

Meaning

  • verbsee

Example

我一回头，只见她站在门口。wǒ yì huí tóu zhǐ jiàn tā zhàn zài mén kǒu

When I turned around, I saw her standing at the door.

Illustration for 只见 (see)

More examples

窗外雷声滚过，只见一道闪电划破夜空。chuāng wài léi shēng gǔn guò zhǐ jiàn yí dào shǎn diàn huà pò yè kōng

Thunder rolled outside, and then a flash of lightning streaked across the night sky.

Core concept

After attention shifts, the next visible detail suddenly stands out as a discovery.

Common phrases

  • 只见他走来zhǐ jiàn tā zǒu lái

    then he came walking over

  • 只见一道闪电zhǐ jiàn yí dào shǎn diàn

    then a flash of lightning appeared

  • 只见远处出现一艘船zhǐ jiàn yuǎn chù chū xiàn yì sōu chuán

    then a ship appeared in the distance

Similar words

看见kàn jiàn: Seeing a person or thing and knowing that it is there.
看到kàn dào: Observing something and confirming its visible details or situation.
出现chū xiàn: Showing up or becoming visible in a place, sometimes without warning.
发现fā xiàn: Finding out that a person, thing, or problem is present through careful attention or inquiry.

Definition in Chinese

表示在回头、转身等动作之后瞬间看见某人或某物，用来突出发现的瞬间感。biǎo shì zài huí tóu zhuǎn shēn děng dòng zuò zhī hòu shùn jiān kàn jiàn mǒu rén huò mǒu wù yòng lái tū chū fā xiàn de shùn jiān gǎn

Word origin

The expression 只见 (zhǐjiàn, "just see") joins 只 (zhǐ, "just") with 见 (jiàn, "see"), turning a simple act of seeing into an immediate scene reveal.

Usage tips

  • In spoken storytelling, its placement after a movement or change of focus helps listeners follow the camera-like shift in the scene, a pattern that does not usually fit a plain factual update.

Other meanings

  • thenadverb

Word lists with this word