# 妳看起來很漂亮



## carlareed19

I have been struggling to translate something using online translators. 
I received a text message in Chinese from someone I know who for many years lived in China. This person is not a friend and it concerns me that he would write something to me in Chinese knowing I won’t have a clue what it says. The text is the following:
妳看起來很票亮

If any native speakers are able to help I’d be very grateful. And I apologise in advance if asking for translation help is not the purpose of this forum. 

Thanks


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## SimonTsai

You look very pretty.


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## dojibear

The sentence says "You look pretty."  The "you" is a female "you".


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## NewAmerica

You look very beautiful.
You look very nice.
You look very pretty.

Note that the original Chinese 妳看起來很票亮 has a misspelling 票 which should have been 漂. S/he should have written 妳看起來很漂亮 or 你看起來很漂亮。Now put it into online translators and you will see much improved results.


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## SimonTsai

[*nice*] Someone nice-looking is pleasing to the eye but may not get attention. You may say it in a bland way. It sounds nonchalant.

[*pretty*] A pretty girl easily catches your eye and is typically with delicate features. The emphasis is upon physical attractiveness.

[*beautiful*] A beautiful man or lady is not merely handsome or pretty, but unique, as a work of art. It is certainly more powerful.


> You look very beautiful.


你看起來很美。


> You look very nice.


你 (長得) 很好看。


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## carlareed19

Thank you all very much for your help. The guy who sent me this message lives downstairs from my partner so I’m not sure what he thought he was going to achieve with this, but at least I know what it says now. A few online translators said something about a “bright ticket” so I really had no idea what it could mean. 

Thanks again


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## lixiaoquan

In "妳看起來很票亮" ,  '票' meas ticket and '亮' means bright, that's why you got wrong answers from online translator

The sentence in your title is correct, '*漂亮*' means pretty/beautiful...


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## Skatinginbc

SimonTsai said:


> You look very nice 你 (長得) 很好看。


"You look very nice" does not mean "你長得很好看".
Evidence:
You look very nice today.
你今天長得很好看.


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## SimonTsai

Then what does it mean?

*[Yahoo Answers]*
'Me being a guy, saying you look nice is easier than saying you look beautiful.' (anonymous)
'If a guy says you look nice, he means it—Trust me. Guys wouldn't bother saying anything if they didn't mean it.' (Kitty)
'It's [...] based on what you're wearing [...] or it could be a way of telling someone they are pretty or beautiful without actually saying it.' (LC)


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## Ivy Ivy

Skatinginbc said:


> "You look very nice" does not mean "你長得很好看".
> Evidence:
> You look very nice today.
> 你今天長得很好看.


Simon is correct. "You look very nice " means "你長得很好看"。
“You look very nice today“ in this situation, it means"你今天看起来不错"


dojibear said:


> The sentence says "You look pretty."  The "you" is a female "you".


In Chinese，"you" does not have feminine or masculine form. Only when it comes she(她) or he（他）, the written word is different.


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## NewAmerica

I am statistically correct.
Dojibear is correct.


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## Ivy Ivy

“妳 ”is traditional Chinese character. That is why on the left, there is a word“女”， but no matter it refers to female or male, it is the same word. In simplified Chinese "‘你” can also be referred to male and female too.


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## NewAmerica

妳：
《*國語辭典*》
用於女性的第二人稱。如：「妳真是女中豪傑。」
《汉典》： 称谈话的女性对方。
《汉语大字典》：同"你"。指女性。
《汉语大词典》：你。指女性。

All authoritative sources confirm that Dojibear is correct. Your personal opinion is simply confined to your own imagination.


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## Skatinginbc

You look nice. 你很好看 (= pleasant to look at)
You look nice today. 你今天很好看  ≠ 你今天長得很好看 
You are looking nice.  你現在這樣很好看 ≠ 你正在長得很好看 
You look nicer with a smile. 你笑更好看  ≠ 你笑長得更好看 
You look nice with that shirt. 你穿那襯衫很好看  ≠ 你穿那襯衫就長得很好看 

中文「你長得很好看」 是說 「你的長相很好看」.  基因是決定長相的重要因素之一。「長」(生長) 得花時間，除非是妖怪，人不會因換了衣著打扮就瞬間多生一塊肉，「長」得很好看.

英文 "You look nice" 是指你在這時刻、場合、狀況 (e.g., 穿著打扮) 「好看」(悅目，有吸引力).  醜八怪打扮起來，即使長相沒變，只要是整體造型比往常順眼，我們還是可以對他說 "You look nice."


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## SimonTsai

身為堂堂外貌協會理事長（玩笑話），若一個人真是醜八怪，我絕不會說 'He looks nice'，頂多說 'He is well dressed'。

若是常人，亦即非 Ron Levi 或 Manu Rios 等男神，亦非女星如舒淇，則有可能。


Skatinginbc said:


> "You look very nice" does not mean "你長得很好看".


I think that now I get it, and I agree that it may not mean '你長得很好看':


SimonTsai said:


> 你 (長得) 很好看。


That is why I used the round brackets. (If it turns out to be misleading, I would like to make an apology.)


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