The use of ‘kan lai’ in Chinese

看来 can be translated as "apparently" or "it seems" and is used by the speaker to introduce his or her understanding of a situation.

"看来"可以译为"apparently"或者"it seems"，说话者以此来表达自己对于某种情况的认知。

看来 as "it seems"

When speaking from your own point of view, you can just say 看来 and then state your perspective.

想要从自己的角度说事时，你可以在说"看来"之后再陈述你的观点。

看来 + Perspective

Examples

看来他不来了，都这么晚了。

kàn lái tā bú lái le, dōu zhè me wǎn le.

It seems he's not coming. It's already so late.

看来你玩得不高兴，怎么这么早就回来了？

kàn lái nǐ wán dé bú gāo xìng, zěn me zhè me zǎo jiù huí lái le?

I guess you didn't have a good time. Is that why you came back so early?

现在看来，事情没那么糟。

xiàn zài kàn lái, shì qíng méi nà me zāo.

Now it looks like things aren't that bad.

看来 as "from x's perspective"

看来 can also be used to highlight a specific person's point of view. This is like saying "the way he/she sees it…" You can also say 在我看来, which is the longer version, though it is used more often that way in formal speaking and writing, as it has more of a feeling like "in my opinion…"

"看来"也可用于强调某个具体的人的看法，这就类似在说"the way he/she sees it"。你也可以说"在我看来"这样较长的说法，虽然这比较经常用在正式的演讲或书面场合，因为它更有像"in my opinion"的感觉。

在 + Person + 看来 + Perspective

Examples

在我看来，不会花钱的人就不会享受生活。

zài wǒ kàn lái, bú huì huā qián de rén jiù bú huì xiǎng shòu shēng huó.

The way I see it, people who won't spend money aren't going to enjoy life.

在他看来，公司大小不重要，重要的是老板好不好。

zài tā kàn lái, gōng sī dà xiǎo bú zhòng yào, zhòng yào de shì lǎo bǎn hǎo bú hǎo.

According to him, the size of the company isn't important. What's important is whether or not the boss is good.

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