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眼看 (yǎn kàn) — (adverb) soon; in a moment; (verb) to look on helplessly; to watch (something happen) without being able to act

Definition

眼看 has two uses: as an adverb it means 'about to / soon' (like the more formal 即将), often with 就要; as a verb it means 'to watch helplessly' as something bad unfolds.

adverb
soonin a moment
verb
to look on helplesslyto watch (something happen) without being able to act

Examples

  • 眼看，。
    yǎn kàn Jiù yào xià yǔ le, wǒ men kuài zǒu ba.
    It's about to rain soon; let's go quickly.
  • 眼看，。
    Tā zhǐ néng yǎn kàn zì jǐ zhǒng de huā bèi yǔ dǎ huài, què háo wú bàn fǎ.
    He could only watch helplessly as his own flowers were ruined by the rain, with no way to stop it.
  • 眼看，。
    yǎn kàn Huǒ chē jiù yào kāi le, tā hái zài lù shang dǔ zhe.
    The train is about to depart soon, but she's still stuck in traffic.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

眼yǎneye
看kànlook

眼 (eye) and 看 (look) combine as looking with the eyes, extending to soon or watching.

Characters in this word

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
目目mùeye
Sound part声符shēngfú
艮
艮gèn眼yǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

眼 combines 目, which is an eye, with 艮, which gives the character's sound.

Open 眼 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6

Browse more HSK 6 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.