How do you say "look at" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "look at" is 見る (miru). It is a verb pronounced "mee-roo".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Pronunciation

見る is written in kanji and hiragana. Romanised as miru, it sounds roughly like "mee-roo" to an English ear.

Example sentence

子供たちは見ますのが楽しそうです。

Kodomotachi wa mimasu no ga tanoshisou desu.

The children seem to enjoy look ating.

Usage notes

見る means to look at in Japanese. This is an everyday verb that learners encounter early. Mastering its masu form (見ます) and te-form opens up many sentence patterns.

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Questions about 見る

How do you pronounce 見る?

見る is romanised as miru. Say it roughly like "mee-roo" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 見る formal or casual?

見る is the plain (dictionary) form, used in casual speech and in dictionaries. For polite situations, verbs take a different ending, typically -masu. In Noun Town the game always shows the dictionary form.

How is 見る written in Japanese?

見る is written using kanji and hiragana. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.