看起来 and 看上去 for “It Looks …”
Say how someone or something looks, and what you guess from it, with 看起来 and 看上去.
Pattern
Subject + 看起来 / 看上去 + (很) adjective / 像 + noun
Both mean “looks …”: you judge from what you see. 看上去 sticks to appearance, while 看起来 can also give a general impression.
你看起来很累，早点儿休息吧。
When to use 看起来 and 看上去 for “It Looks …”
看起来 and 看上去 both mean “looks …” or “seems …”: the speaker judges by what they see. Put them after the subject and follow them with an adjective (often with 很 or 有点儿), or with 像 + noun for “looks like ….”
这个苹果看上去很新鲜。
This apple looks very fresh.
她看起来像一个老师。
She looks like a teacher.
他看上去只有二十岁，其实已经三十多了。
He looks only twenty, but he’s actually over thirty.
这个问题看起来很难，其实很容易。
This question looks hard, but it’s actually easy.
Common traps
- Don’t use 看见 or 看到 for “looks”; they mean “to see” something.
- To say “looks like + noun,” add 像: 她看起来像老师.
- Use 看上去 for appearance only; for clues you hear or reason out, choose 好像 or 看来.
Targeted drill
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