In depth vocabulary: 見る miru and 見せる miseru

見る miru and 見せる miseru

Today we’ll learning about hard to differentiate similar words and learn more about the difference.

見る (miru) is usually used as in to watch television or to look at the scenery. It also means to check/look over/examine on something (to see if it correct).

見せる (miseru) is to show something to someone so that he/she are able to look it over.

Let’s see more example:

見てもいいですか (mite mo ii desu ka) comes from 見る (miru), therefore it means: Is it okay to see it? / Can I look at it?

見せてもいいですか (misete mo ii desu ka) comes from 見せる (miseru), therefore it means: Can I show something to someone else? / Is it okay to show this to someone else?

見ていただけませんか (mite itadakemasen ka) comes from 見る(miru), therefore it means: Could you please see/look at this?

見せていただけませんか (misete itadakemasen ka) comes from 見せる (miseru), therefore it means: Could you please show it to me?

Note:

〜もいいですか (~te mo ii desu ka) is used to ask for permission.
~ていただけませんか (~te itadakemasen ka) is a more polite version of 〜てもらえますか (~te moraemasu ka). They both have the same meaning, which is to make a request to another person.

They are very similar, so take your time to understand them.
We hope this helps. Happy learning! ｡ﾟ✶ฺ.ヽ(*´∀`*)ﾉ.✶ฺﾟ｡