看不见 v 看不到

[pprendeville]

Just looking for a quick explanation of the differences between these 2 expressions?

[abcdefg]

看不见 v 看不到

I should probably leave this for someone who knows more, but without any research I can tell you off the cuff that I understand the first one 看不见 to mean "I didn't see" (you or it.) "I didn't notice you standing there by the door."

看不倒 on the other hand, means I was looking/searching for something (or someone) but couldn't find it (or find him/her.) "I couldn't find any Pepsi Cola in the supermarket" or "I couldn't find a convenient flight to Beijing."

Pretty sure this is correct, though there may be more to it. I often get burned trying to answer stuff like this, but it seems I'm unable to stop trying. Please, in the name of all that is holy, give me a green point if I got it right this time.

[Olle Linge]

Note that 看不見 also means "not able to see", either because you're blind, because it's dark or for some other reason.

[Tiana]

Both mean "to be not able to see" (potential) and are interchangeable in many cases. 看不到 is however a bit more marked, and used when the sense of unable to detect/ discern/ perceive is emphasized.

[abcdefg]

Several years ago I had arranged to meet a casual female friend at a particular street corner in front of a particular store at a particular time. A few minutes after the appointed time, she sent me a text saying she was real close, just across the street in fact. I looked across the street but couldn't see her. So I replied to her message with 我不看你。

When she emerged from the crowd a minute later and we were walking together, she was a little bit upset (not much, because she knew I was a new learner of the language.) She told me I had said it wrong and that 我不看你 had a somewhat negative connotation, as though I had said "I can't look at you" -- maybe meaning "I'm not willing to look at you" or even "I can't stand to look at you" (because you are so ugly, etc.)

She told me 我看不见你, as the above posters also suggest, would have been more polite and appropriate. I readily accept that the path of learning has many such small bumps (as well as some which are larger.)

[tooironic]

Interesting example. 我不看你 is more like "I'm not going to see you." (i.e. meet with you).

[abcdefg]

Interesting example. 我不看你 is more like "I'm not going to see you." (i.e. meet with you).

Yes, that makes good sense too.

[lingo-ling]

Interesting example. 我不看你 is more like "I'm not going to see you." (i.e. meet with you).

Add 了to the end, and it means "I'm not going to see you anymore" - like breaking up with someone.

[JIAKE]

看不见：Something is in your field of vision but you didn't see it or unable to see it.

看不到：Something isn't in your field of vision so you can't see it anymore.

However sometimes they are the same meaning.

[LearneЯ]

As far as my feeble understanding goes, 看不见 to me, defines person's inability to see something due to several factors. Say for instance, you got sand in your eyes and you 看不见, or you are blind folded and 看不见， you probably 看不见 because there is an object in between, and perhaps you are just blind and 看不见.

看不到 describes something you are specifically looking at (or for) and cannot see it. You 看不到 an icon on your desktop, you can't find the person you were looking for on the stage/TV/movie and your favourite spoon is also 看不到. Interestingly enough, 。。。。。。不见了 would be perfect in such situations.

As for 'didn't see' or 'didn't notice' sort of situations, I would rather use 没（有）看见 or 没（有）看到 depending on the situation, preferably without 有.