Chinese word

看看

Pronunciation

Pinyinkàn kàn

Meaning

  • verbtake a look

Example

你看看这本书怎么样？nǐ kàn kàn zhè běn shū zěn me yàng

Take a look at this book - what do you think?

Illustration for 看看 (take a look)

More examples

我先看看再决定。wǒ xiān kàn kàn zài jué dìng

I'll have a look first, then decide.

Core concept

A brief, low-pressure act of looking, often done to see how something appears or works.

Common phrases

  • 你看看这个nǐ kàn kàn zhè ge

    have a look at this

  • 我看看一下wǒ kàn kàn yí xià

    have a quick look

  • 先看看价格xiān kàn kàn jià gé

    look at the price first

Similar words

看kàn: Look at something.
看一看kàn yí kàn: Give something a brief, light look.
看一下kàn yí xià: Take a short look to check a result or condition.
看一眼kàn yì yǎn: Glance at something for an instant.

Definition in Chinese

短时间看一眼或试着查看，用来表示随意查看或尝试性地看一看。duǎn shí jiān kàn yì yǎn huò shì zhe chá kàn yòng lái biǎo shì suí yì chá kàn huò cháng shì xìng dì kàn yí kàn

Word origin

看 (kàn, "look") + 看 (kàn, "look") repeats the verb to frame the action as brief and tentative, giving the expression the sense of looking for a moment to see what something is like.

Usage tips

  • In everyday conversation, this form often makes a request sound gentler, so it can invite an opinion without sounding like a strong command.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word