Differences between 去看 and 去找

[chinesestudent]

Can anyone please explain the differences between 去看 and 去找 in the following sentences:

我明天去看你.

我明天去找你.

Thank you in advance.

[dehuaye]

我明天去看你.

我明天去找你.

去看你 - Is to go see you.

去找你 - is to go find you.

看- to look

找- to find.

so 我明天去看你 - I am going to see you tomorrow, or tomorrow I am going to see you.

我明天去找你 - Tomorrow I am going to find you, or I am going to find you tomorrow.

I hope I answer your question.

[Farkas]

The first one means that I visit you and the second means that I have a date with you,go somewhere and we have to go together,I start out first and you are the second and may have the third one and etc

[rivercao]

明天去看你 is more like talking between two guys who are not in same status, and the speaker is showing care（probably beacause the object has illness or depression etc.）. The speaker might be a teacher or a mentor or a leader in group.

If it is from low status to high, it should be: 我明天去看（or看望）您，好吗？

明天去找你 is used between good friends, especially between those who have the same social class.

Hope it's clear.

[chunluo]

To my opinion, what rivercao said is partly true. But while 看你 is always a polite way to say, 找你 could just as polite. The 'status' cannot well explain the difference. Literally, 去看你 means ' to see you'; 去找你 means ' to find you', but both mean to meet you. 去看你 emphasizes my caring about you, or my respect to you; 去找你 emphasizes that it is our appointment. But one could use 去看你 instead of 去找你 when one wants your help but trying to avoid being too straightforward. Lastly, I think that they are actually exchangeable in many situations.

[rivercao]

去找你 emphasizes that it is our appointment.

I'd say even in the case of appointment, 去找你 is not a good way in a formal appointment(business negotiation etc.), it's a bit informal and casual. If you want to emphasise the appointment, you can always say:

我们明天下午2：30分在你家见面好吗？

Time and location are always important factors in an appointment, if no conext given. However, as you said, 去看你 and 去找你 are replaceable in most cases.

[chunluo]

去找你 is not a good way in a formal appointment(business negotiation etc.), it's a bit informal and casual.

I agree on this, actually.

[liminjin1]

我明天去看你 means I will visit you tomorrow.

我明天去找你 means I will go to see you and perhaps I need your help or we can do something else together.

[chinesestudent]

Thanks everyone who contributed. I wonder if the difference in usage is regional because a Chinese friend from southern China expalined the differences similar to what Rivercao written, that 去看 is somewhat for honorific use or for visiting sick patient, and 去找 is for peers or use toward people with lower status compare to the speaker. However, another Chinese friend from northern China expalined that "（去）看（望）病人、老同学、朋友、父母， 口语可以不用说‘望’；用‘拜访’比较正规。找人，找东西。" and "找后面有宾语." For example: 我明天去找你玩儿。 They are both native speakers, so I am a little confused. Also, my textbook uses 去见 for meeting, is that sort of honorific too?

[zhenzhen1985]

it’s no big difference.

I agreed with following：

The first one means that I visit you and the second means that I have a date with you,go somewhere and we have to go together,I start out first and you are the second and may have the third one and etc

[rivercao]

I‘m from northern China, so when you said a southern Chinese had the similar explanation to me, I think the answer would be quite clear.

去见你 can be used in appointment, similar to 去找你, a little bit formal.

[Altair]

This has been an interesting discussion.

I searched for examples of 找 on nciku.com and found this example:

你下午来找我，再不然我去找你。

You come and see me this afternoon, or else I'll go to your place.

Does the Chinese imply that the two people will go somewhere else? I do not think that the English has this implication (含意).

Prior to seeing reading this thread and seeing this example, I though that 找 could only mean "get" or "pick up" in this context, and not "go and keep company with."

[chrix]

Altair, before I started making an effort to use Chinese more in my everyday life, I knew about this meaning of 找 only theoretically. But whenever I used 訪問 or 拜訪, it was pointed out to me how inappropriate these words were, and I've now come around

[Shi Tong]

Do you really think it has to do with status? hmm...

I think it's more literal IMO, the difference being that you might not know where said person is-

去看 (I am coming to see you (at your house.. I know where you are))

去找 (we'll both be in the city centre, I'll call you and find you OR you will be busy at work, and I might not immediately find you at your desk, so I will make more effort to find you).

This means 找 is a bit less formal I suppose...

I can kind of see the way it could be a status thing, and I can kind of see why 去看 would be something you would say if you were visiting someone somewhere (like in hospital or something), but is it really as clear cut as you're suggesting? I think they're almost the same!