看 (kàn) is a Chinese character meaning “to look at”. It is written from 龵 (four-stroke top written 丿一一丿, also seen on top of 看 and 着) and 目 (eye), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes.
Build the character for “to look; to watch”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
龵 + 目
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+770B; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-4 form the four-stroke top 龵, strokes 5-9 form a complete 目)
Memory aid
The four-stroke top 龵 is a hand, and under it sits an eye (目): a hand raised over the eye, shading it so you can look into the distance. Both parts really are in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 看见kàn jiànto see; to catch sight of看 = kàn
- 好看hǎo kàngood-looking; nice to look at看 = kàn
- 乍看zhà kànat first glance看 = kàn
- 看戏kàn xìto watch a play; to see an opera看 = kànHSK 3
- 看穿kàn chuānto see through (a trick or disguise)看 = kàn
Go deeper
All readings
to look; to watch
to look at; to watch; to read; to visit (someone); to consider
用眼睛观察；也指阅读、探望、认为。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 看见kàn jiànto see; to catch sight of看 = kàn
- 好看hǎo kàngood-looking; nice to look at看 = kàn
- 乍看zhà kànat first glance看 = kàn
- 看戏kàn xìto watch a play; to see an opera看 = kànHSK 3
- 看穿kàn chuānto see through (a trick or disguise)看 = kàn
Rare readings, not taught: kān
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 看 mean?
看 (kàn) means to look at; to watch; to read; to visit (someone); to consider.
How do you pronounce 看?
It is pronounced kàn.
What parts is 看 made of?
龵 (four-stroke top written 丿一一丿, also seen on top of 看 and 着) and 目 (eye), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+770B; modern decomposition candidate checked against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 stroke geometry (strokes 1-4 form the four-stroke top 龵, strokes 5-9 form a complete 目). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 看 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 看?
目. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 看?
Common ones are 看见 and 好看. The reading of 看 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.