見える
mieru[mʲie̞ɾɯ̟]
In Japanese, "looks like" is expressed as 見える (mieru).
The phrase is used to describe the appearance of someone or something based on what is observed. While it is used to say something "looks like" something else, its primary literal meaning is "to be visible" or "to be able to see".
Which one should you use?
The term 見える can mean both "to be visible" and "to look like" (in terms of appearance).
How does it change in a sentence?
When you want to say that something looks like a specific noun, you must place the particle に before 見える. For example, you would use に見える to indicate the appearance relates to that noun.
How do you pronounce it?
mieru
Did you know?
- The word 見える is used to describe how someone looks, but if you want to say someone looks like they are in a certain emotional state, Japanese often uses the word そう, such as 悲しそう for 'looks sad'.
- The root of the word, 見ゆ, appears in the 'Kojiki', one of Japan's oldest historical chronicles from the early 8th century. This means the concept of 'being visible' has been linguistically stable for over 1,300 years.
- When describing a person's appearance, using 見える can sometimes sound like you are judging based on a first impression, which can be seen as less polite than describing a specific feature.
Examples in context
- 彼は正直者に見える。He looks like an honest man.This sentence is useful for saying how someone looks using 見える.Tatoeba #103267 by bunbuku, translation #300426 by CK
- 彼は賢い子に見える。He looks like a clever boy.Tatoeba #107658 by bunbuku, translation #296027 by CK
- それは卵のように見える。It looks like an egg.This sentence is useful for saying how something looks using 見える.Tatoeba #204797 by arnab, translation #42039 by CK
- 彼女は猫のようです。She looks like a cat.
- 天気予報によると、明日は雨のようです。According to the weather forecast, it looks like it will rain tomorrow.
- あの店、混んでるみたい。Looks like that store is crowded.
- 彼、怒ってるみたいだよ。He seems angry.
- 春っぽい服を着ている。Wearing clothes that look like spring.
- 今日の天気は夏っぽい。The weather today seems like summer.
- 最近、鼻が詰まって風邪っぽい。Lately, my nose feels congested, like a cold.
- 21 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Yui and Yota are looking at a piece of art in a gallery.
- 結衣 Yuiこの絵はとても綺麗に見えるね。Kono e wa totemo kirei ni mieru ne.This painting looks very beautiful, doesn't it?
- 陽太 Yota本当だね。とても明るく見える。Hontou da ne. Totemo akaruku mieru.It really does. It looks very bright.
- 結衣 Yui陽太さんは、この色が一番好き？Youta-san wa, kono iro ga ichiban suki?Yota, is this color your favorite?
- 陽太 Yotaうん、すごく鮮やかに見えるから。Un, sugoku azayaka ni mieru kara.Yeah, because it looks so vivid.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 見える, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 見える, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
