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.

	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

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. Aside from set phrases, one of the most common ways to use 见 is to directly follow it with a person to mean "meet" that person. (As you'll see below, 见面 can't be used this way.)

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!
我见过他两次。 Wǒ jiàn guo tā 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.

见面你jiànmiàn nǐ
见面我jiànmiàn wǒ
见面他jiànmiàn tā
见面朋友jiànmiàn péngyou

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.

Comparing "jian" and "jianmian"

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