# 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. From Proto-Japonic *miru. Cognate with 目 (me, “eye”).

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) みる [míꜜrù] (Atamadaka – [1])
* (Mishima) みる [mìrú] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [mʲiɾɯ̟]
* Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「見る」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary :
| Stem forms ||||
| 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

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 ||||
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 |
(See Appendix:Japanese verbs and Japanese conjugation) :
| Ren’yōkei / Verb stem | 見 [mi] | 見 [mi] |
| Rentaikei / Attributive | 見る [miru] | 見る [miru] |
| | Positive | Negative |
| Conjunctive (te-form) | 見て [mite] | 見ないで [minai de], 見なくて [minakute] |
| Non-past / Imperfective |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見る [miru] | 見ない [minai] |
| Polite | 見ます [mimasu] | 見ません [mimasen] |
| Past / Perfective |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見た [mita] | 見なかった [minakatta] |
| Polite | 見ました [mimashita] | 見ませんでした [mimasen deshita] |
| Passive |||
| Verb stem | 見られ [mirare] | 見られ [mirare] |
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見られる [mirareru] | 見られない [mirarenai] |
| Polite | 見られます [miraremasu] | 見られません [miraremasen] |
| Past / Perfective | 見られた [mirareta] | 見られなかった [mirarenakatta] |
| Polite past / perfective | 見られました [miraremashita] | 見られませんでした [miraremasen deshita] |
| Causative |||
| Verb stem | 見させ [misase] | 見させ [misase] |
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見させる [misaseru], short form: 見さす [misasu] | 見させない [misasenai] |
| Polite | 見させます [misasemasu] | 見させません [misasemasen] |
| Past / Perfective | 見させた [misaseta] | 見させなかった [misasenakatta] |
| Polite past / perfective | 見させました [misasemashita] | 見させませんでした [misasemasen deshita] |
| Potential |||
| Verb stem | 見られ [mirare] | 見られ [mirare] |
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見られる [mirareru] | 見られない [mirarenai] |
| Polite | 見られます [miraremasu] | 見られません [miraremasen] |
| Past / Perfective | 見られた [mirareta] | 見られなかった [mirarenakatta] |
| Polite past / perfective | 見られました [miraremashita] | 見られませんでした [miraremasen deshita] |
| Potential with ra-nuki |||
| Verb stem | 見れ [mire] | 見れ [mire] |
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見れる [mireru] | 見れない [mirenai] |
| Polite | 見れます [miremasu] | 見れません [miremasen] |
| Past / Perfective | 見れた [mireta] | 見れなかった [mirenakatta] |
| Polite past / perfective | 見れました [miremashita] | 見れませんでした [miremasen deshita] |
| Imperative |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Meireikei / Firm instruction | written: 見よ [miyo], spoken: 見ろ [miro] | prohibitive: 見るな [miru na] |
| Polite | 見てください [mite kudasai] | 見ないでください [minai de kudasai] |
| -nasai form | 見なさい [minasai] | — |
| Volitional / Presumptive |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見よう [miyō] | — |
| Polite | 見ましょう [mimashō] | — |
| Conditional |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Hypothetical / Provisional | 見れば [mireba] | 見なければ [minakereba], colloquial: 見なきゃ [minakya] |
| -tara form | 見たら [mitara] | 見なかったら [minakattara] |
| Causative passive |||
| Verb stem | 見させられ [misaserare] | 見させられ [misaserare] |
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見させられる [misaserareru] | 見させられない [misaserarenai] |
| Polite | 見させられます [misaseraremasu] | 見させられません [misaseraremasen] |
| Past / Perfective | 見させられた [misaserareta] | 見させられなかった [misaserarenakatta] |
| Polite past / perfective | 見させられました [misaseraremashita] | 見させられませんでした [misaseraremasen deshita] |
| Desiderative (-tai form) |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見たい [mitai] | 見たくない [mitaku nai] |
| | For other desiderative forms, see たい#Inflection. | For other desiderative forms, see たい#Inflection. |
| Progressive action and current state (-te iru form) |||
| | Positive | Negative |
| Plain | 見ている [mite iru] contraction: 見てる [miteru] | 見ていない [mite inai] contraction: 見てない [mitenai] |
| Polite | 見ています [mite imasu] | 見ていません [mite imasen] |
| Past / Perfective | 見ていた [mite ita] | 見ていなかった [mite inakatta] |
| Polite past / perfective | 見ていました [mite imashita] | 見ていませんでした [mite imasen deshita] |
Other forms and suffixes :
| Archaic or classical negative | 見ぬ [minu] ¹ |
| Archaic attributive negative | 見ぬ [minu] ¹ |
| -ぬ contraction (colloquial negative) | 見ん [min] |
| Negative continuative | 見ず [mizu] ¹ |
| (〜に): without 〜ing | 見ず [mizu] ¹ |
| Listing examples (-tari form) | 見たり [mitari] |
| ¹ Archaic form, now mostly used in set phrases, written language and formal speech. ||

#### 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)
* 守(も)る (moru), 守(もり) (mori)

### References

* ↑ “見・看・視・観・覧”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ 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
* ↑ 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]‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 September 2022