# She looks very young



## eskimo79

她看很年轻

Is this correct?

Thank you!

eskimo


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## xiaolijie

I think it should be 
她看*得*很年轻
(There're many other ways, to express different nuances)


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## eskimo79

Thank you! I am always a bit confused when it comes to '*得*'...


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## Leon yang

It's not an correct chinese sentence. 
I'm afraid "她看*得*很年轻" is also an incorrect one.
You can say:
她看起来很年轻。


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## heiz

Leon yang said:


> It's not an correct chinese sentence.
> I'm afraid "她看*得*很年轻" is also an incorrect one.
> You can say:
> 她看起来很年轻。



Leon yang's right. To take this further:
The soup smells good. --- 汤闻起来很好。
The idea sounds great. ---- 那主意听起来很棒。


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## xiaolijie

> I'm afraid "她看*得*很年轻" is also an incorrect one.


It's interesting that this sentence is said to be not correct. What about these examples below by native speakers, are they incorrect too? I'm not a native speaker and I'd like to know:
您真是看得很年轻啊
有一个人呢，看得很年轻
他们还是看得很年轻啊
是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧

Of course there are other ways to say it, but I didn't want to give something completely different from what the OP wrote, and that is why I said in my earlier posts _"There're many other ways, to express different nuances"
_


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## heiz

xiaolijie said:


> It's interesting that this sentence is said to be not correct. What about these examples below by native speakers, are they incorrect too? I'm not a native speaker and I'd like to know:
> 您真是看得很年轻啊
> 有一个人呢，看得很年轻
> 他们还是看得很年轻啊
> 是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧
> 
> Of course there are other ways to say it, but I didn't want to give something completely different from what the OP wrote, and that is why I said in my earlier posts _"There're many other ways, to express different nuances"
> _


您真是看得很年轻啊            
有一个人呢，看得很年轻      
他们还是看得很年轻啊         
是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧  

Substitute all ‘看得' with '看起来' or '看上去'. 

'得' is not supposed to be used in this kind of sentences coz it's not decorating the subject's action but the obsever's. In the  example 'She looks young. ', the action 'look' is taken by observer or narrator, not 'She'. In this circumstances, we use ’看上去，看起来‘. 

On the contrary, if the action were taken by the subject of the sentence, '得' will be used. For example 'She plays happily'--'她玩得很开心。’；‘He runs fast'--'他跑得很快'; ' I look far'--'我看得远’。


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## xiaolijie

> Substitute all ‘看得' with '看起来' or '看上去'.
> 
> '得' is not supposed to be used in this kind of sentences coz it's not decorating the subject's action but the obsever's. In the example 'She looks young. ', the action 'look' is taken by observer or narrator, not 'She'. In this circumstances, we use ’看上去，看起来‘.
> 
> On the contrary, if the action were taken by the subject of the sentence, '得' will be used. For example 'She plays happily'--'她玩得很开心。’；‘He runs fast'--'他跑得很快'; ' I look far'--'我看得远’。


This is clearly _your personal preference_. The sentences I quoted are all by Chinese native speakers and having thought about the matter, I don't think they are wrong at all. Here's another very clear example using 看得:

平时人都说我妈妈看得很年轻


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## heiz

I don't know why the 'Chinese native speakers' said that. All I can say is that no one I know did say it like that. It sounds evidently weird.


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## BODYholic

"native speakers" as in which region?

Those sentences do not sound native to our ears in Singapore. 



xiaolijie said:


> It's interesting that this sentence is said to be not correct. What about these examples below by *native speakers*, are they incorrect too? I'm not a native speaker and I'd like to know:
> 您真是看得很年轻啊
> 有一个人呢，看得很年轻
> 他们还是看得很年轻啊
> 是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧
> 
> Of course there are other ways to say it, but I didn't want to give something completely different from what the OP wrote, and that is why I said in my earlier posts _"There're many other ways, to express different nuances"
> _


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## xiaolijie

The examples I quoted are from dialogues, blogs, stories by Chinese speakers. Here they are in the fuller contexts to add understanding (and if you like, you can find them on the internet!):

阿姨，您真是看得很年轻啊。我咋看还以为您才二十多呢！

有一个人呢，看得很年轻，做个道士的装扮，肩上有一只白猫，仿佛能通人性。

他们还是看得很年轻啊~就是稍微胖了些.

是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧!

平时人都说我 妈妈看得很年轻.


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## heiz

would you give me the url of the website where you got this dialogue?


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## xiaolijie

Just put each sentence between the quote "" into Google and you'll get the websites together with the passages containing the sentences.


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## anlyx2

Subject + 看 + Direct Obj
Subject + 看起来 + adj --> describing the subject.

I have never heard anyone says 您看得很年轻 in Mainland China. It makes no sense to me.


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## xiaolijie

I think in some of the sentences quoted, if you replace 看得 with 看起来, it may sound a bit rude, as if you're saying the person is "actually old". Anyway, let's see what other people say.


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## Geysere

xiaolijie said:


> The examples I quoted are from dialogues, blogs, stories by Chinese speakers. Here they are in the fuller contexts to add understanding (and if you like, you can find them on the internet!):
> 
> 阿姨，您真是看得很年轻啊。我咋看还以为您才二十多呢！
> 
> 有一个人呢，看得很年轻，做个道士的装扮，肩上有一只白猫，仿佛能通人性。
> 
> 他们还是看得很年轻啊~就是稍微胖了些.
> 
> 是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧!
> 
> 平时人都说我 妈妈看得很年轻.


Neither have I heard "看得很年轻" before, but another way to say it is "看着很年轻", according to my sense of language 
xiaolijie, I can find your first two sentences with google, so maybe some people do say that, but I guess it's regional or maybe it's used in some particular style of language in certain genre of litterature...?


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## heiz

xiaolijie, believe me, Chinese people don't say things like that no matter it is complimentary or not. I found the source of the first sentence you posted. It's not a mainstream novel. People can scrabble anything on the website even though they don't make any sense. 

If you still feel uncertain, I suggest you turn to a Chinese teacher if available.


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## Staarkali

on a slightly different note, could we say 她貌似很年轻 just like we would say 她好像很年轻？(_she seems very young_)?


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## avlee

Maybe, “得” can only be found in use like that in some classic literature or some local dialect occasionally. 
Vote on heiz and the alike.


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## avlee

Staarkali said:


> on a slightly different note, could we say 她貌似很年轻 just like we would say 她好像很年轻？(_she seems very young_)?


 It's the same thing.
The former one prevails in cyber culture.


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## anlyx2

I think 她貌似很年轻 is just a more formal way to say 她好像很年轻. Same meaning.


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## Jerry Chan

anlyx2 said:


> I think 她貌似很年轻 is just a more formal way to say 她好像很年轻. Same meaning.



Be carefully about 貌似
It's used to express suspicion.
她貌似很年輕, the speaker actually thinks she's quite old.
他貌似誠懇=He's sincere, but superficially

Back to the topic, I'll go with 看起來. For 得:
她長得很漂亮
她看得很漂亮


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## 我说汉语

xiaolijie said:


> It's interesting that this sentence is said to be not correct. What about these examples below by native speakers, are they incorrect too? I'm not a native speaker and I'd like to know:
> 您真是看得很年轻啊
> 有一个人呢，看得很年轻
> 他们还是看得很年轻啊
> 是38岁了~ 依旧看得很年轻吧
> 
> Of course there are other ways to say it, but I didn't want to give something completely different from what the OP wrote, and that is why I said in my earlier posts _"There're many other ways, to express different nuances"_


What dialect do they speak?
Well, people from different places do not speak exactly the same way.
I don't say "得" in this way.
(I'm from the north)


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## kenny4528

> 您真是看得很年轻啊


 
Never heard it used.




> 您看起來很年轻啊
> 
> 您看來很年轻啊
> 
> 您看起來真是很年轻啊


 
Different contexts arounds them might yield nuance.


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## xiaolijie

Thank you all for replying. It seems pretty clear now that "看得很年轻" is not used by the majority. I'll try to find out what region it could be from.


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## samanthalee

Staarkali said:


> on a slightly different note, could we say 她貌似很年轻 just like we would say 她好像很年轻？(_she seems very young_)?


Yes, we can. But "貌似" is more of a "书面语", we use it in our writing and don't usually use it in our speech.


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## 我说汉语

actually, I think 貌似 is internet language...


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## BODYholic

我说汉语 said:


> actually, I think 貌似 is internet language...


Yes, I agree. In fact, in Singapore, the meaning taught to us is only "look like or resemble someone". Eg 貌似潘安. I have never came across people here that says or writes "貌似很好吃". Though I understand that this form of usage is very a la mode in China.

I recalled there is an existing thread on this subject. I am posting via mobile it is inconvenient for me to dig up the thread now.

Edited: For discussion of 貌似, please continue from this thread http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1390224&highlight=35980+20284


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## beandrink

Geysere said:


> Neither have I heard "看得很年轻" before, but another way to say it is "看着很年轻", according to my sense of language
> xiaolijie, I can find your first two sentences with google, so maybe some people do say that, but I guess it's regional or maybe it's used in some particular style of language in certain genre of litterature...?



I can't agree with u more.


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## CANANA

heiz said:


> i don't know why the 'chinese native speakers' said that. All i can say is that no one i know did say it like that. It sounds evidently weird.



她看來不足称


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## xiaolijie

> 她看來不足称


What does "不足称" mean?


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## CANANA

Sorry, it is a slang.

年轻 meaning year light (young)

不足称 meaning not enough weight (slang for cantonese)

Most cantonese slang should be used.

I just throw it in just fun.


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## xiaolijie

Thank you!


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## Staarkali

thank you for the answers


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## reeshar

I am a Chinese and the answer to the solution is '她看起来很年轻。'.


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## IWantToLearnFrench

她看很年轻，若直接翻译成英文来说(if directly translated into English)， 就变成(then it becomes) She looks at "young", which does not make sense.

So instead of 她看很年轻, the correct way of saying that she looks young is:
她看起来很年轻/她的长相很年轻/她的外表看起来很年轻。

The last two answers mean: Her look is very young(this does not make any sense in English, but it does make sense in Mandarin), but this "do-not-direct-translate" rule has to be applied when it comes to learning a foreign language. 

Hope that helped!


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## ljinga

it should be 她看起来很年轻。


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