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How to Say ‘I want to take a look first.’ in Simplified Chinese

我想先看看。

wǒ xiǎng xiān kàn kàn

[waw shyahng shyen kahn-kahn]

💬 Usage Tip: [先] goes before the verb to mean "first," and [看看] is a light, casual "have a look." The repeated verb often makes the action sound less direct: [我先看看菜单。]

Phrase Breakdown

[waw]

I; me

The first-person pronoun used to refer to yourself.

Example

我想先看看豆单。

I’d like to look at the bean list first.

xiǎng

[shyahng]

want to; would like to

Used to politely say what you intend or prefer to do.

Example

我想先看看。

I’d like to take a look first.

xiān

[shyen]

first

Shows that one action happens before another.

Example

我想先闻一下豆子的香气。

I’d like to smell the aroma of the beans first.

看看

kàn kàn

[kahn-kahn]

have a look

A softened reduplicated verb meaning 'to take a look' in a casual, polite way.

Example

我想先看看你们的咖啡豆。

I’d like to take a look at your coffee beans first.

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