Comparing "jian" and "kan"

Both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) are often used to mean to visit/see someone or to catch sight of something/someone. When used in these meanings, they can be used interchangeably. Both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) are used in formal and informal settings. The key difference between these words is 见 (jiàn) can also mean to meetup with someone, whereas 看 (kàn) can also mean to watch, to read, or to look at.

	见 (jiàn)	看 (kàn)
Meaning	to visit/see someone, to catch sight of something/someone, to meet up	to visit/see someone, to catch sight something/someone, to watch, to read, to look at
Part of Speech	verb	verb
Formality	flexible	flexible

To say to visit/see someone 见 (jiàn) can be used

Common Phrases

If you want to say to visit/see someone, you can use 见 (jiàn). Using 见 (jiàn) emphasizes “to see”.

• 去 见 你 qù jiàn nǐ go see/visit you
• 好久 不 见
• 星期三 见

Example Sentences

In the following sentences, both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) can be used interchangeably and to mean to catch sight of something/someone.

• 我 看 到了。
• 小李 看 到我们。
• 广场的人太多，小刘还没 见 到你，你喊他一下吧。
• 昨天在买东西的时候，我们 看 到校长。

To say to visit/see someone 看 (kàn) can also be used

Common Phrases

If you want to say to visit/see someone, you can also use 看 (kàn). Using 看 (kàn) emphasizes “to visit”.

• 去 看 你 qù kàn nǐ go visit/see you
• 去 看 朋友
• 看 老师
• 看 家人

Example Sentences

Remember, in the sense of “to visit/see someone“ 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) can be used interchangeably. In the following sentences, both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) can be used. Again, using 见 (jiàn) emphasizes “to see”, while 看 (kàn) emphasizes “to visit”.

• 我去 看 你。
• 张老师来我们家 见 我们。
• 虽然我们俩都在成都，但是我很忙，没时间 见 他。
• 我们今天去南京 见 朋友。
• 我们要利用暑假去 看 家人。

To say to catch sight of something/someone both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) can be used interchangeably and have the same meaning

Common Phrases

In these common phrases, both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) can be used interchangeably and both mean to catch sight of something/someone.

• 见 到了
• 看 到他了
• 见 不到
• 看 不到你们

Example Sentences

In the following sentences, both 见 (jiàn) and 看 (kàn) can be used interchangeably and to mean to catch sight of something/someone.

• 我 看 到了。
• 小李 看 到我们。
• 广场的人太多，小刘还没 见 到你，你喊他一下吧。
• 昨天在买东西的时候，我们 看 到校长。

Common Phrases

These common phrases only work with 看：

• ～书
• ～报纸
• ～电影
• ～电视
• ～球
• ～病
• ～风景
• ～情况

Example Sentences

In the following sentences, only 看 can be used:

• 我喜欢 看 风景。
• 在旅游的时候，我们最喜欢的是 看 风景，不怎么喜欢爬山，参观博物馆什么的。
• 咱们去 看 一场电影，怎么样？
• 儿子在 看 书，别打扰他了。
• 王老师喜欢 看 球。
• 那条消息你 看 到了吗？
• 他爸爸身体有点不舒服，最好要去 看 病。
• 明天我不知道有没有空出去玩，看 情况吧。