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, "she looks tired."

Structure

Just put 看起来 after the subject, as follows:

Subj. + 看起来 + Adj.

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。Zhè ge kàn qǐlái hěn piàoliang.This looks very pretty.
• 他 看 起来 很 友好。Tā kàn qǐlái hěn yǒuhǎo.He looks friendly.
• 这 个 蛋糕 看 起来 很 好吃。Zhè ge dàngāo kàn qǐlái hěn hǎochī.This cake looks really tasty.
• 你 今天 看 起来 很 累。Nǐ jīntiān kàn qǐlái hěn lèi.You look really tired today.
• 这 家 餐厅 看 起来 不错。Zhè jiā cāntīng kàn qǐlái bùcuò.This restaurant looks good.

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"