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看作 (kàn zuò) — to regard as, to look upon as

Definition

看作 means 'to regard / look upon as,' used with 把 or 把…∼成 to set up a comparison. Of the synonyms here, 当作 and 视为 are closest — 看作 is neutral and common, 视为 is more formal/written.

verb
to regard asto look upon as

Examples

  • 看作。
    Wǒ bǎ zhè jiàn shì kàn zuò yí cì xué xí de jī huì.
    I regard this matter as a learning opportunity.
  • 看作。看作
    Lǎo shī cháng cháng bǎ xué shēng kàn zuò zì jǐ de hái zi. kàn zuò
    Teachers often regard students as their own children.
  • 看作。
    Wǒ men bǎ shī bài kàn zuò chéng gōng de kāi shǐ.
    We regard failure as the beginning of success.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

看kànlook
作zuòmake

The 看 of regarding takes something as 作, 'make it so', giving 'regard as'.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 看 puts 手 (hand) over 目 (eye), showing a hand placed above the eyes to gaze into the distance.

Open 看 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
乍
乍zhà作zuò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side 亻 comes from 人, meaning 'person', and the right side 乍 gives the sound.

Open 作 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Thinking & Cognition

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.