Chinese word

见到

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiàn dào

Meaning

  • verbsee

Example

昨天我在商店见到一个老朋友。zuó tiān wǒ zài shāng diàn jiàn dào yí gè lǎo péng yǒu

Yesterday I saw an old friend at the store.

Illustration for 见到 (see)

More examples

今天我在学校见到同学。jīn tiān wǒ zài xué xiào jiàn dào tóng xué

Today I saw a classmate at school.

Core concept

A person or thing comes into view, so a real sighting or chance meeting takes place.

Common phrases

  • 见到同学jiàn dào tóng xué

    see a classmate

  • 在商店见到他zài shāng diàn jiàn dào tā

    see him at the store

  • 很高兴见到你hěn gāo xìng jiàn dào nǐ

    be happy to see you

Similar words

看到kàn dào: To have a person or thing come into view and become visible.
看见kàn jiàn: To use one's eyes to see and confirm that a person or thing is present.
见面jiàn miàn: To meet someone face to face by coming together in person.
遇到yù dào: To come across a person or situation unexpectedly.

Definition in Chinese

看到或碰到某人或某事，强调实际看见或遇到这一结果，常用于描述偶然或短暂的相遇或发现。kàn dào huò pèng dào mǒu rén huò mǒu shì qiáng diào shí jì kàn jiàn huò yù dào zhè yì jié guǒ cháng yòng yú miáo shù ǒu rán huò duǎn zàn de xiāng yù huò fā xiàn

Word origin

The compound 见 (jiàn, "see") + 到 (dào, "arrive or reach") treats seeing as reaching a completed result, giving the word its sense of actually seeing or coming across someone or something.

Usage tips

  • English see can mean understand, as in "I see," but this Chinese verb normally describes an actual person or thing being seen or encountered.

Other meanings

  • meetverb
  • encounterverb

Related words

Word lists with this word