みえる / みられる

みえる / みられる Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Verb (Group 2)

Essential Meaning: To be visible / To look X

Construction: Group 2 Verb

Notes:

• The primary usage of みえる (見みえる in kanji) is to indicate that something is passively visible. In other words, 見みえる means that something can be seen regardless of the volition of any agent. For example, on a clear, dark night the stars are visible regardless of whether there is actually anyone there to see them. In Japanese, you could say 星ほしが見みえる。 [The stars are visible.]. Note that with 見みえる, the visible object is marked by が.

• Be careful not to confuse 見みえる with the potential verb form 見みられる. 見みられる indicates that something is actively rather than passively visible (i.e. the agent has control over whether he or she chooses to see something).
  • E.g. テレビを買かったからテレビが見みられる。[Because I bought a TV, I can watch TV shows.] In this example, the speaker has the active volitional potential to watch TV.
  • E.g.私わたしは目めが見みえない。[I’m blind (i.e. My eyes don’t have the potential to see).] Expressing blindness is a common usage of 見みえる. The idea is that the blind person has no potential to see, regardless of his or her volition. Thus, 見みられる would be inappropriate.

• In some cases, both 見みえる and 見みられる are acceptable, depending one whether the speaker believes that he or she has control over the situation.
  • E.g. 隣となりに高たかいビルが立たったので山やまが見みえなくなった。[Because a tall building was built next door, the mountains are no longer visible.] The use of 見みえる in this case implies a lack of agency. There’s nothing the speaker can do to rectify the situation.
  • E.g. 隣となりに高たかいビルが立たったので山やまが見みえられなくなった。[Because a tall building was built next door, I can’t see the mountains any more.] The use of 見みられる implies that the speaker has some level of control over the situation. Perhaps he or she can move to a higher floor.

• There are two special usage of 見みえる to take note of:
  • (1) 見みえる means “Look~” or “Looks like~” after adverbial adjectives or after Noun + に.
    • E.g. あの人ひとは年とし寄よりずっと若わかく見みえる。[That person looks much younger than his age.]
    • E.g. 女おんなの人ひとは夜よるきれいに見みえる。[Women looks pretty in the evening.]
    • E.g. 中島なかじまさんは学生がくせいに見みえる。[Nakajima-san looks like a student.]
  • (2) 見みえる can be used as a polite way to say 来くる [To come]. Rather than saying “Mr. X came“, you are essentially saying “I was able to see Mr. X“. It comes across as more gracious and polite.
    • E.g. お母かあさん、お客きゃくさんが見みえたよ。[Mom, we have guests.]
    • E.g. 学会がっかいには上田うえだ先生せんせいも見みえた。[Professor Ueda came to the meeting, too (i.e. We had the pleasure of seeing Professor Ueda at the meeting too).]

Example Sentences:

私わたしには遠はやくのものがよく見みえる。[For me, distant objects are very visible (i.e. I have the ability to see distant objects well).]

窓まどから海うみが見みえる。[The sea is visible from the window.]

今日きょうは山やまが近ちかく見みえる。[The mountains appear close today.]

私わたしには木きの上うえの小ちいさな鳥とりが見みえた。[I was able to see small birds at the top of the tree.]

東京とうきょうタワーからは東京とうきょうの町まちがよく見みえる。[From Tokyo tower, the towns of Tokyo are quite visible.]

WILD Examples:

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