Meaning of 眼看
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- soon
- in a moment
- to look on as sth happens
How to use 眼看
As an adverb, 眼看 means something is about to happen very soon, often with 就 and 了. As a verb, it means watching something happen without being able to stop it, as in 眼看着. Example: 眼看就要下雨了。(Yǎnkàn jiù yào xià yǔ le.) It is about to rain any minute.
眼 (yǎn) is the eye and 看 (kàn) is to look, so 眼看 is something happening right before your eyes. If you can already see it coming, it is about to happen soon.
Common mistake: Learners often use 眼看 like 看见 (kànjiàn) to mean simply "to see." In practice it usually signals that something is imminent or that someone is helplessly watching. Also remember the tones: third tone yǎn plus fourth tone kàn, not yān.
眼看 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
眼 yǎn · eye · 11 strokes
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看 kàn · to see · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 眼看.
| 看到 | kàndào | to see |
| 看见 | kànjiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 好看 | hǎokàn | good-looking; nice-looking; (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good |
| 看病 | kànbìng | to visit a doctor; to see a patient |
| 眼睛 | yǎnjing | eye |
| 看法 | kànfǎ | way of looking at a thing; view |
| 难看 | nánkàn | ugly; unsightly |
| 看起来 | kàn qǐlái | seemingly; apparently; looks as if; appears to be; gives the impression that; seems on the |
| 看上去 | kàn shàngqù | it would appear; it seems (that) |
| 眼前 | yǎnqián | before one's eyes; now |
| 观看 | guānkàn | to watch; to view |
| 收看 | shōukàn | to watch (a TV program) |
Questions about 眼看
What does 眼看 mean?
眼看 (yǎnkàn) means "soon; in a moment" and is used as a verb and adverb.
How do you write 眼看?
眼看 is made of 2 characters: 眼 (11 strokes), 看 (9 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 眼看 an HSK word?
Yes. 眼看 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 眼看 and 马上?
Both can mean "soon," but 眼看 stresses that the event is visibly approaching and often feels unavoidable. 马上 (mǎshàng) is more neutral and can be used for your own actions, like 我马上来 (I'm coming right away).
What does 眼看着 mean?
眼看着 means "watching helplessly as something happens." For example, 他眼看着车开走了 (Tā yǎnkànzhe chē kāi zǒu le) means he watched the car drive off and could do nothing.