见 jiàn / xiàn — to see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; appear
很高兴见到你。Hěn gāo xìng jiàn dào nǐ.Nice to see you.
Common words: 看见 (kàn jiàn)、见面 (jiàn miàn)、再见 (zài jiàn)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to appear"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to appear", including 见 (jiàn / xiàn), 形 (xíng), 像 (xiàng), 似 (sì). Study pinyin, English meanings…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to appear" covers 4 different Chinese characters — 见 (jiàn / xiàn), 形 (xíng), 像 (xiàng), 似 (sì) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 4 characters do not share a sound — their readings span jiàn, xiàn, xíng, xiàng, sì — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 见 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 见 jiàn / xiànto see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; appearUseful words: 看见, 见面
- 形 xíngto appear; to look; form; shapeUseful words: 形象, 形成
- 像 xiàng(look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; imageUseful words: 好像, 偶像
- 似 sìto seem; to appear; similar; like; to resembleUseful words: 类似, 相似
Common words for these 4 "to appear" characters
Anchor each of these 4 characters in a word you can picture — start with 见 (jiàn / xiàn) — so "to appear" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
看见kàn jiànto see; to catch sight of见面jiàn miànto meet; to see each other再见zài jiàngoodbye; see you again later形象xíng xiàngimage; form; figure; visualization形成xíng chéngto form; to take shape形式xíng shìouter appearance; form; shape; formality好像hǎo xiàngas if; to seem like偶像ǒu xiàngidol摄像机shè xiàng jīvideo camera类似lèi sìsimilar; analogous
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 4 ways to say "to appear".
形 xíng — to appear; to look; form; shape
月亮的形状每天都在变。Yuè liang de xíng zhuàng měi tiān dōu zài biàn.The shape of the moon changes every day.
Common words: 形象 (xíng xiàng)、形成 (xíng chéng)、形式 (xíng shì)
像 xiàng — (look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; image
这个孩子长得很像他爸爸。Zhè ge hái zi zhǎng de hěn xiàng tā bà ba.This child looks a lot like his father.
Common words: 好像 (hǎo xiàng)、偶像 (ǒu xiàng)、摄像机 (shè xiàng jī)
似 sì — to seem; to appear; similar; like; to resemble
这两幅画看起来很相似。Zhè liǎng fú huà kàn qǐ lái hěn xiāng sì.These two paintings look very similar.
Common words: 类似 (lèi sì)、相似 (xiāng sì)、似乎 (sì hū)
All 4 characters
Open 见、形、像 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.