What is the difference between kan and jian? When do you use which? Both mean to see or to look

Hello, It is true that 看(kan4) and 见 (jian4) both mean to see or to look. However, 见 is more often used in the sense of "to see somebody", or "to meet somebody". 看 on the other hand is more of a general term that can be used for seeing objects, reading books or looking at things. When both words are combined into 看见 (kan4 jian4) it means something more like, 'to catch a glimpse or sight of something'. I hope this helps to understand the difference a bit more. - Lin Ping

Thank you. What about kan bu jian (看不见)?

means: can't see sth the structure is called a "potential complement" 听得懂 able to understand 听不懂 not able to understand 看得见 able to see 看不见 not able to see

i want to say thank you to linping who has a good kind to spread to every one ,chinese, i 'm very happy because of i have linping to help me having better chinese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar#Complement_of_result This section maybe can help in understanding a complement of result (potential complement)

Hi there, Hi Yves B sorry for the late reply, I have been in China and unfortunately didn't always have access to the internet. As Oggiedoggy pointed out, 看不见 means "not able to see" and is know as a complement of result and the link posted above; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_grammar#Complement_of_result has quite a good explanation on this concept. Hi yimlor l, thank you very much for you kind words and I hope that your Chinese is coming along and that you are making wonderful progress. Keep up the good study!