"我看见了你的孩子。"
Translation:I saw your child.
73 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
But is it an accurate translation? Or would that verb tense be done differently?
Yes it should, but in my opinion I would say that 我看见过你的孩子 would be a better way to say, "I have seen your child." It would depend on the context, though, of course. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
You're right. Having been learning British English for 25 years, my first translation, without context, will be 'I have seen your child', but well, this course translates to American English... It's still not accepted, though :-/
I think it's because of where you put 了. If put after a verb, the verb becomes past tense. But if put after a noun/subject, the sentence becomes in the present perfect tense. I could be wrong
What is the difference between 看见, 看 and 见. I've wondered this for a while now.
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I'm not fluent so maybe someone else can weigh in too. 看 means to look at or watch something and is a continuous action like 看电影 or 看书. 见 means to meet like 我们见到 (we met). When you put them together, 看见 means you saw it but you dont see it anymore. 见 is a modifier here and tells you the action is not ongoing.
I'm also a beginner so I might be wrong, but as I understand it, 看 is "watch", and 看见 is "see".
That is to say just 看 signals intent or directed attention (like you're watching a film) and 看见 is more accidental. Like the difference between "listen to" and "hear" in english.
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It depends on how you translate it to English. One of the meanings for 看见 is "to catch a glimpse." That exact translation would sound weird in English, but I don't think that applies to the Chinese meaning. I think 看见 means to see something for a moment as you pass it or it passes you.
I agree. And so many sentences in Duolingo are creepy, I really wonder what kind of "cockroaches" are living in the head (it's a Russian expression) of the people who designed the lessons: I touch the boy, I pay the boy (er, for doing what ???) and a dozen more that are way too creepy to say out loud if anyone is within hearing distance (good thing there's the "I can't talk now" button). At least those were in the Greek tree which I completed, but there are very little differences from one tree to the other. So I assume I'll soon learn to be creepy in Chinese too thanks to Duolingo.
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Previously in the lesson, I saw the pattern " subject + 看见 + object +了." Why does the position of 了 change like this?
I wonder too. Would it be something like watch and see ? As someone said. Then would i use "kan ni de haizi" in the context of a show where i watched them with intention ? And "jian" would be "i met them"? And "kan jian le" would be "i have seen them over there" ? For the last one i dont mean "a place" but just "see with no intention of looking at them".
我看见了你的孩子。
wǒ kàn jiàn le nǐ de háizi
我 = "I"
看 = [verb] "(to) look"
见 = result complement of the verb 看. Makes it a compound verb "to see". https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Result_complement
了 = following a verb it indicates a completed action. In this sentence it makes the verb past tense (see -> saw)
你 = "you"
的 = possessive particle (you -> your)
孩子 = "child"
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I really don't understand why both 见 and 了 are bot required to indicate past tense, despite some people pseudo-explaining it.
Isn't this also the same as "I have seen your child"? Chinese doesn't differentiate between these kinds of past tenses
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here the 了comes after 'i have seen.' But in the sentence, 'have you seen her book?' 了comes just before the question particle 吗。
why is it different?
What's the difference between 我看见了你的孩子 and 我看见你的孩子了? Where is the 了 supposed to go?
Reported on March 5th 2018: "I have seen your children". Especially because another phrase (你的孩子在桌子下) marks you wrong if you say "child" instead of "children"! The answers should be consistent in singular/plural if there is no context, or accept both!
E 看见了 has been variously translated in the examples as "have seen" and "saw." I don't understand the logic favoring one over the other. How can they be differentiated?
I don't have the answer but another question, sorry. Why do we need "了" it wasn't used in previous sentences and the translation was also "have seen" it is because in this case, the preferred translation is "saw"?
In this case it indicates that the action is not currently happening. That is usually how it functions when appearing directly after a verb such as 看见. Typically, any time you want to be clear that something happened in the past, you will use 了 or 过 after the verb, though neither necessitates past tense. If anyone else has thoughts, feel free to correct me.
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I put "I saw your kid" but it marked it wrong. I figured kid/child wouldn't make a difference
What is the difference between "saw" and "have seen" in this sentence. "Have seen" is marked wrong. It is a correct translation. Please fix.
Not that it is important, but as an American English speaker, maybe I can shed some light on why Duo wanted "saw" rather than "have seen." To me, "I have seen your child," sounds like you mean the same thing as, "I have seen your child before." "I saw your child," sounds more like you are talking about a specific time/place/event where you noticed my child. For instance, "I saw your child at school," would mean that the last time you were at the school you saw my child. "I have seen your child at school," would mean that you, at any ambiguous point in the past, have seen my child at school before. Additionally, I would say, "I saw your child yesterday," but never, "I have seen your child yesterday." In any case, this is all just pointless explanation. I'm not super sure on the British English rules with "saw" versus "have seen," but hopefully that shed some light on the situation.
Its the same in English in the UK. Saw is used when referring to a specific time. Seen is used when being nonspecific about time/occasion. The confusion comes because we often speak incorrectly and it becomes an acceptable way of speaking (colloquially)
Would it also be correct Chinese to say 我看见你的孩子了 or can you put the 了 only in this certain situation on the end when it's as question wether s.o. has seen s.o. or s.th.?
Or are there a rule, when 了 has to come directly after the verb and when not?
I thought putting 了after the verb makes it in the past tense? I typed "I have seen your child" which is in the present perfective tense and it was still accepted. I thought putting 了at the end of the sentence makes it in the present perfective tense. I'm confused.
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So 看 = 'watch', 看见 = 'see', and '看见了' = saw ? Can 了 be placed at the end of the sentence?
All good comments. Perhaps Kan jian le = saw, and kan le= watched, looked, and jian le= seen.
This site used, "wo kan le = saw', and "wo kan jian... le = seen"( ie. le was at the end of the sentence).
I seen your child should also be accepted, in fact I think "seen" is more grammatically correct than "saw" in this context
