---
title: "看上去 (kànshangqu) in Chinese Grammar: Looks (like), With Examples"
description: "看上去 (kànshangqu): looks (like); appears. 看上去 + description: judging by appearance. 3 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/kanshangqu"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# 看上去 kànshangqu

Looks (like); appears

刺猬cìweihedgehog

看上去 + description: judging by appearance.

## In stories

曹操又笑：“袁绍**看上去**厉害，其实胆子很小；

[煮酒论英雄 · Heroes Over Warm Wine](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/heroes-over-warm-wine-three-kingdoms-intermediate-chinese-4#library-word-674-677) HSK 5

刘备抬头一看，这个人比张飞还高，胡子长长的，脸红得像熟透的枣，**看上去**非常威风。

Liu Bei looked up: the man was even taller than Zhang Fei, with a long beard and a face as red as a ripe date, and he looked truly imposing.

[桃园结义 · The Oath in the Peach Garden](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/oath-in-the-peach-garden-three-kingdoms-intermediate-chinese-1#library-word-484-487) HSK 5

悟空念了几句口诀，摇身一变，大家面前多了一棵又高又直的松树，**看上去**和真的一模一样。

Wukong recited a few secret words, gave himself a shake, and there in front of everyone stood one more tall, straight pine tree, exactly like a real one.

[七十二变 · Seventy-Two Changes](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/seventy-two-changes-journey-to-the-west-intermediate-chinese-3#library-word-572-575) HSK 5

## Your turn

Write your own sentence with 看上去. It's checked, and you'll see if the pattern is there.

[Read 煮酒论英雄](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/heroes-over-warm-wine-three-kingdoms-intermediate-chinese-4#library-word-674-677)

## More patterns

- [去/来 + place + verb (go somewhere to do something) go somewhere to do something](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/qu-place-v)
- [verb + 来 + verb + 去 do something over and over; back and forth](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-lai-v-qu)
- [看起来 looks (like); it seems](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/kanqilai)
- [verb + 下去 (keep on) keep on doing it; continue](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-xiaqu)
- [在…看来 in …’s view](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/zai-kanlai)
- [在…上 (abstract: as regards) as regards …; in …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/zai-shang)

## Now read them in a real story

[**十两饺子**How to order dumplings in ChineseHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-dumplings-in-chinese)

## What does 看上去 (kànshangqu) mean in Chinese?

Looks (like); appears. 看上去 + description: judging by appearance.

## How common is 看上去?

It comes up in 3 readings of the 462 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

The finder doesn’t: it shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does. To have a sentence you wrote corrected, with each mistake explained, use the Chinese grammar checker.

## More free tools

- [Chinese grammar checker](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar-checker): your mistakes fixed
- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.