---
title: "听起来 (tīngqǐlai) in Chinese Grammar: Sounds (like), With Examples"
description: "听起来 (tīngqǐlai): sounds (like); it sounds …. 听起来 + description: the impression from hearing it. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/tingqilai"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

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

# 听起来 tīngqǐlai

Sounds (like); it sounds …

听起来 + description: the impression from hearing it.

## In stories

在网上，很多人说“五二零”，因为“五二零”和“我爱你”**听起来**差不多。

[妈妈不说“我爱你” · How to say I love you in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-i-love-you-in-chinese#library-word-169-172) HSK 2

“一和七，**听起来**有一点儿像。”

[幺是一 · How to say your phone number in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-phone-number-in-chinese#library-word-149-152) HSK 2

“门口”**听起来**很清楚，其实少了不少信息。

[我们都到了却没见面 · Same Place Different Door](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/same-place-different-door#library-word-81-84) HSK 3

因为“八”**听起来**很像“发财”的“发”。

[中国人为什么喜欢数字八？ · Why is 8 a lucky number in China?](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/why-is-8-a-lucky-number-in-china#library-word-104-107) HSK 3

[Read 妈妈不说“我爱你”](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-i-love-you-in-chinese#library-word-169-172)

## More patterns

- [去/来 + place + verb (go somewhere to do something) go somewhere to do something](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/qu-place-v)
- [从…开始/起 starting from …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/cong-kaishi)
- [越来越 + adjective more and more …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yuelaiyue)
- [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)
- [对…来说 for …; as far as … is concerned](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/dui-lai-shuo)

## What does 听起来 (tīngqǐlai) mean in Chinese?

Sounds (like); it sounds …. 听起来 + description: the impression from hearing it.

## How common is 听起来?

It comes up in 15 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

## More free tools

- [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.