参观 (cān guān) — to visit (a place), to tour, to look around

Definition

参观 means to visit or tour a place (museum, factory, exhibition). 游览 and 观光 are more for scenic/leisure travel; 探望 is for visiting people, not places.

verb

to visit (a place)to tourto look around

Examples

参观。
Wǒ men zuó tiān qù cān guān le yí gè xīn bó wù guǎn.
We visited a new museum yesterday.
参观。
Tā yāo qǐng wǒ yì qǐ cān guān gōng chǎng.
He invited me to tour the factory together.
参观？
Nǐ men yǒu méi yǒu shí jiān qù cān guān zhǎn lǎn?
Do you have time to visit the exhibition?

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

参cāninspect

观guānlook

Both 参 and 观 mean 'look or inspect', so 参观 describes going around to look.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 參; 参 is its simplified writing.

晶晶jīngstars
光光guānglight; brightness
彡彡shānlight rays

For simplified 参, the story belongs to traditional 參, which combines 晶 (stars), 光 (light), and 彡 (rays) to show the Three Stars; one reading takes 光 as a kneeling person looking up.

Open 参 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 觀; 观 is its simplified writing.

雚見觀

Meaning part形符xíngfú

見見jiànsee

Sound part声符shēngfú

雚

雚guàn觀guān

Same sound today

The traditional form 觀 uses 見 (see) for meaning and 雚 for sound.

Open 观 →