見る

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
見
み Grade: 1
kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.^[1] From Proto-Japonic *miru. Cognate with 目 (me, “eye”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) みる [míꜜrù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[3]^[4]
(Mishima) みる [mìrú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [mʲiɾɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「見る」

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	見る	みる	`[míꜜrù]`
Imperative (命令形)	見ろ	みろ	`[míꜜrò]`
Key constructions
Passive	見られる	みられる	`[mìráréꜜrù]`
Causative	見させる	みさせる	`[mìsáséꜜrù]`
Potential	見られる	みられる	`[mìráréꜜrù]`
Volitional	見よう	みよー	`[mìyóꜜò]`
Negative	見ない	みない	`[míꜜnàì]`
Negative perfective	見なかった	みなかった	`[míꜜnàkàttà]`
Formal	見ます	みます	`[mìmáꜜsù]`
Perfective	見た	みた	`[míꜜtà]`
Conjunctive	見て	みて	`[míꜜtè]`
Hypothetical conditional	見れば	みれば	`[míꜜrèbà]`

Verb

見(み)る • (miru) transitive ichidan (stem 見(み) (mi), past 見(み)た (mita))

Japanese verb pair
causative	見(み)せる
active	見(み)る
mediopassive	見(み)える

to see, to watch, to observe, to look at something
- 2003 October 10, Quentin Tarantino, Kill Bill: Volume 1, spoken by young O-Ren Ishii (Ai Maeda), Miramax Films:
  
  松(まつ)本(もと)……あたしを見(み)て……あたしの顔(かお)をよーく見(み)て……あたしの目(め)を見(み)て……あたしの口(くち)を見(み)て……見(み)覚(おぼ)えないかい？……あんたが殺(ころ)した誰(だれ)かに……似(に)てないかい！
  Matsumoto…… Atashi o mite…… Atashi no kao o yōku mite…… Atashi no me o mite…… Atashi no kuchi o mite…… Mioboe nai kai?…… Anta ga koroshita dare ka ni…… nite nai kai!
  Matsumoto…… Look at me…… Take a good look at my face…… My eyes…… My mouth…… Don’t I look familiar to you?…… Like someone…… you murdered⁉
to look over, to examine, to judge
to take care of, to look after, to keep an eye on somebody
to view something, like paintings, flowers or a movie
映(えい)画(が)を見(み)に行(い)く
eiga o mi ni iku
to go see a movie

あの監(かん)督(とく)の映(えい)画(が)を見(み)たことはありません。
Ano kantoku no eiga o mita koto wa arimasen.
I haven't seen any of that director's movies before.
みる: (after the te form of a verb) to try to do (literally, “[do the preceding verb and] see”)
納豆(なっとう)を食(た)べてみませんか。
Nattō o tabete mimasen ka.
Why not try [to eat] natto?

死(し)ぬまで君(きみ)と生(い)きてみたいよ
shinu made kimi to ikite mitai yo
Until death I want to try to live with you

怪(あや)しい扉(とびら)を開(あ)けてみたくないよ
ayashī tobira o akete mitakunai yo
I don't want to try to open the weird door!

Usage notes

This auxiliary usage implies that the action has never been attempted by the subject.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "見る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	見	み	mi
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	見	み	mi
Shūshikei ("terminal")	見る	みる	miru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	見る	みる	miru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	見れ	みれ	mire
Meireikei ("imperative")	見よ¹ 見ろ²	みよ¹ みろ²	miyo¹ miro²
Key constructions
Passive	見られる	みられる	mirareru
Causative	見させる見さす	みさせるみさす	misaseru misasu
Potential	見られる見れる³	みられるみれる³	mirareru mireru³
Volitional	見よう	みよう	miyō
Negative	見ない見ぬ見ん	みないみぬみん	minai minu min
Negative continuative	見ず	みず	mizu
Formal	見ます	みます	mimasu
Perfective	見た	みた	mita
Conjunctive	見て	みて	mite
Hypothetical conditional	見れば	みれば	mireba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Classical conjugation of "見る" (マ行上一段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	見	み	mi
Continuative (連用形)	見	み	mi
Terminal (終止形)	見る	みる	miru
Attributive (連体形)	見る	みる	miru
Realis (已然形)	見れ	みれ	mire
Imperative (命令形)	見よ	みよ	miyo
Key constructions
Negative	見ず	みず	mizu
Contrasting conjunction	見れど	みれど	miredo
Causal conjunction	見れば	みれば	mireba
Conditional conjunction	見ば	みば	miba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	見き	みき	miki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	見けり	みけり	mikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	見つ	みつ	mitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	見ぬ	みぬ	minu
Perfect-continuative tense	見たり	みたり	mitari
Volitional	見む	みむ	mimu

Synonyms

視聴(しちょう)する (shichō suru)

Derived terms

見(み)せる (miseru, “to show”)
見(み)る影(かげ)もない (miru kage mo nai), 見(み)る影(かげ)も無(な)い (miru kage mo nai): mere shadow of one's former self; having no trace left of something great once possessed
夢(ゆめ)を見(み)る (yume o miru, “to have a dream”)
試(こころ)みる (kokoromiru, “to try; to taste”)
省(かえり)みる (kaerimiru, “to look back, reconsider”)

Related terms

見(み)える (mieru)
診(み)る (miru), 看(み)る (miru), 観(み)る (miru), 視(み)る (miru)

References

^ “見・看・視・観・覧”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Uwano, Zendo (2002 October 31) “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 September 2022
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[1] “見・看・視・観・覧”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[2] Uwano, Zendo (2002 October 31) “見島方言の用言のアクセント調査報告 [A Report on the Accentual Surveys of Verbs and Adjectives in the Mishima Dialect]”, in 環太平洋の「消滅に瀕した言語」にかんする緊急調査研究 [Endangered languages of the Pacific Rim]‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 September 2022

[DJR-3] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-4] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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