# 他看书



## guyper

"Ta kan shu"

Does the phrase mean, "He looks at the book" or "he's looking at the book"?

Thank you


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## Rorrey

It means,"He looks at the book"


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## Rorrey

He= 他
looks at = 看
the book = 書


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## Aoyama

But it may also mean _he is *reading *a book ..._


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## coconutpalm

Without any context, I can only assume that it means he reads books instead of not reading at all, or it has no meaning at all. You can say 他喜欢看书 ta1 xi3 huan1 kan4 shu1 (he loves reading) or 他经常看书 ta1 jing1 chang2 kan4 shu1 (he often reads books).
If you want to say he's reading a book, you may say 他在看书（呢）ta1 zai4 kan4 shu1 (ne), 在pronounced quick and ambiguous.
If you want to say he's looking at a book, you may say - well, this hard - 他瞪着一本书看 ta1 deng4 zhe yi4 ben3 shu1 kan4.
Again, without context, we can be little help.


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## marpisiano

If *yo*u are thinking of it in terms of 'Direct' translation- (他看书) it is...    he is looking at a book

However it*'*s supposed to mean....   he is reading a book.

There *yo*u go. Cheers

He= 他
looks at = 看
the book = 書

Hey Rorrey, are *yo*u from *T*aiwan? 
I thought the *T*aiwanese used simplified not complicated *C*hinese???


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## popolvuh

marpisiano said:


> He= 他
> looks at = 看
> the book = 書
> 
> Hey Rorrey, are u from taiwan?
> I thought the taiwanese used simplified not complicated chinese???


 
The *T*aiwanese use complicated *C*hinese not simplified one.


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## popolvuh

Normally speaking, when we see a sentense like TA KAN SHU, first we would think it means HE IS READING THE BOOK. Otherwise, we won´t use this kind of expression.


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## xiaolijie

This 看 is interesting and I've got some related questions:

How should we say "I saw that book/ I've seen that book" ? 
Would the following be ok ?
我看见那本书/我看见过那本书

And how do we say "He is looking at the painting"?
Would this do? 他（在）看着那张画

Thanks!


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## coconutpalm

I saw that book: 我看见过那本书。
He is looking at the painting. Your translation is correct, yet I feel it would be a more appropriatee translation for a clause like "looking at the painting, (he ...)" For the original sentence without context, I would prefer 他（正）盯着那幅/张画看. However, this might be due to personal preference.


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## xiaolijie

Thanks coconutpalm for your very informative replies!
Based on 2 of your sentences:
他盯着那幅画看
他瞪着一本书看
I wonder how I'd best say "He's looking at her". I've got a few versions here, if possible, could you please tell me the differences among them, especially the ones which sound wrong:

他盯着她看
他瞪着她看
他盯着看她
他瞪着看她

Cheers,

Edit: After some thinking about "He is looking at her", I've come to the conclusion that the simplest seems to be the best: "他看着她。" (I hope someone will correct me if this is wrong.)


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## coconutpalm

xiaolijie said:


> Thanks coconutpalm for your very informative replies!
> Based on 2 of your sentences:
> 他盯着那幅画看
> 他瞪着一本书看
> I wonder how I'd best say "He's looking at her". I've got a few versions here, if possible, could you please tell me the differences among them, especially the ones which sound wrong:
> 
> 他盯着她看
> 他瞪着她看
> 他盯着看她
> 他瞪着看她
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Edit: After some thinking about "He is looking at her", I've come to the conclusion that the simplest seems to be the best: "他看着她。" (I hope someone will correct me if this is wrong.)


I think your first three versions are all right although the fourth one sounds weird.
Mind, the closer equivalent of 盯/瞪 is "stare", yet as I said before, without context, it's hard to decide which is better.
他看着她is not wrong, really, but it gives me a feeling that there's more to say and these four words are not complete.
Context is vital.


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## LikeBarleyBending

popolvuh said:


> Normally speaking, when we see a sentense like TA KAN SHU, first we would think it means HE IS READING THE BOOK. Otherwise, we won´t use this kind of expression.


 

Strongly agree !


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## xiaolijie

Thanks coconutpalm!


> 他看着她 is not wrong, really, but it gives me a feeling that there's more to say and these four words are not complete.


Do you mean it needs some continuation like this?
他看着她,想不起来在哪儿跟她见过面。


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## coconutpalm

Yes, exactly!


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## popolvuh

xiaolijie said:


> This 看 is interesting and I've got some related questions:
> 
> How should we say "I saw that book/ I've seen that book" ?
> Would the following be ok ?
> 我看见那本书/我看见过那本书
> 
> And how do we say "He is looking at the painting"?
> Would this do? 他（在）看着那张画
> 
> Thanks!


 
I think it's translation depends on the context:

I saw that book (2 days ago).我（在两天前）看到过那本书。/我（两天前）看见那本书。

I've seen that book (before). 我（以前）曾经看到过那本书。

I've (just) seen that book. 我（刚刚）看到过那本书。

In Chinese, there's no such obvious difference between these two tense. For us, a "过" has already expressed most of the past tense.


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## xiaolijie

Thank you coconutpalm and popolvuh! I understand the question much better now. Popovuh's adding 到 to the translations has made the meaning very clear.
多谢！


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## kastner

If you wanna say "he looks/is looking at the book", better to say 他看着书。

With 呢，他看着书呢 means "He's reading." but without 呢，in most Chinese speakers' mind, should be He's looking at the book.

Other examples,
他看着电视，不说话。 will be regarded as someone wants him to reply, but "he looks at the TV, doesn't speak a word."


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