Example sentences
wǒ我kàn看jiàn见tā他le了。
I saw him.
nǐ你kàn看jiàn见wǒ我de的yào钥shi匙ma吗？
Have you seen my keys?
The story behind the character
看
A hand shielding your eyes from the sun so you can see further. That's the whole origin of 看. Hand on top, 目 (eye) below. Xu Shen wrote 看, 睎也. 睎 is gazing into the distance.
见
目 (eye) over 人 (person). A person with a wide-open eye. That's 见. Xu Shen wrote 见, 视也: "to see." The simplest compound there is, no trick to it.