Comparing "jian" and "jianmian"

Both 见 (jiàn) and 见面 (jiànmiàn) to mean “to see someone” or "to meet up with someone." Sometimes they can be used interchangeably.

A2HSK3ASV4567

	见 (jiàn)	见面 (jiànmiàn)
Meaning	to see someone	to meet face to face
Part of Speech	verb	verb
Formality	formal and informal	formal and informal

:Yes

The key difference between these words is 见 emphasizes to see someone, whereas 见面 emphasizes a to meet up with someone (face to face).

Similarities

Example Sentences

In the following sentences, 见 and 见面 both can be used interchangeably:

• 我们 明天 几 点 见？ Wǒmen míngtiān jǐ diǎn jiàn?What time shall we meet tomorrow?
• 我们 在 咖啡 店 见面 吧。 Wǒmen zài kāfēi diàn jiànmiàn ba.Let's meet at the coffee shop.
• 我们 很久 没 见面 了。 Wǒmen hěn jiǔ méi jiànmiàn le.We haven't seen each other for a long time.

Differences

Common Phrases with 见

These common phrases only work with 见：

• ～你 ～ nǐto see you
• 明天～ Míngtiān ～see you tomorrow
• 一会儿～ Yīhuìr ～see you in a while
• ～过两次 ～ guo liǎng cìhave met twice

You'll notice that the English translation "see" feels natural for most of the examples here, although in some cases "meet" might work as well.

Example Sentences with 见

In the following sentences, only 见 can be used:

• 我 昨天 去 见 我的 朋友 了。 Wǒ zuótiān qù jiàn wǒ de péngyou le.I went to see my friend yesterday.
• 我 快 到 了，一会儿 见！ Wǒ kuài dào le, yīhuìr jiàn !I'm almost there. See you in a bit!
• 我 和 他 见 过 两 次。 Wǒ hé tā jiàn guo liǎng cì.I've met him twice.
• 明天 我 很 忙，不 能 见 你 了。 Míngtiān wǒ hěn máng, bù néng jiàn nǐ le.I'm very busy tomorrow. I can't meet you.
• 我 不 想 见 她。 Wǒ bù xiǎng jiàn tā.I don't want to see her.

Common Mistakes with 见面

The main thing to remember with using 见面 is that you can't follow it with a person.

• 见面 朋友jiànmiàn péngyou
• 见面 你jiànmiàn nǐ
• 见面 我jiànmiàn wǒ
• 见面 他jiànmiàn tā

Example Sentences with 见面

In the following sentences, you can see how 见面 is used correctly:

• 我们 三 个 月 没有 见面 了。 Wǒmen sān gè yuè méiyǒu jiànmiàn le.We haven't seen each other for three months.
• 今天 晚上 我 要 和 我的 朋友 见面 。 Jīntiān wǎnshang wǒ yào hé wǒde péngyou jiànmiàn .Tonight I want to meet with my friend.
• 第一 次 见面 后 我们 成 了 朋友 。 Dì-yī cì jiànmiàn hòu wǒmen chéng le péngyou.After meeting for the first time we became friends.
• 我 和 姐姐 很 少 见面 。 Wǒ hé jiějie hěn shǎo jiànmiàn.I rarely meet up with my big sister.

Advanced Differences

Technically, 见面 (jiànmiàn) is just one way to use 见 (jiàn). 见面 (jiànmiàn) is a special type of Chinese verb-object construct called a “separable verb,” meaning 见 and 面 can be “separated” and other information can be put in the middle. This grammar is a bit complicated, though, and you don't need it as an elementary learner. For a detailed understanding of this type of verb and its usage, see the intermediate-level Chinese Grammar Wiki grammar points on separable verbs.

Sources and further reading

Books

• 1700对近义词语用法对比 第654页

Websites

• HiNative: "见" 和 "见面" 和有什么不一样?