Appearance with "kanqilai"

One of the most common ways to express "it looks like" is to use 看起来 (kànqǐlái). This is what we would use if we wanted to express something like "it seems it's hot outside."

Structure

Just put 看起来 after the subject, as follows:

Subject + 看起来 + Adjective

The subject can be omitted, in which case 看起来 can be followed with a whole statement.

Examples

• 这 个 看 起来 很 漂亮。This looks very pretty.
• 他 看 起来 很 友好。He looks friendly.
• 这 些 食物 看 起来 很 好吃。This food looks really tasty.

See also

• Result complement "-qilai"
• "It seems" with "haoxiang"
• Further uses of resultative complement "qilai"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 241-2) →buy

Websites

• Using 看 (kàn) and 看起来 (kàn qilai)

Videos

• Yoyo Chinese: "You look Pretty"