<p>Trashy lyrics.  Take out the 着 changes the meaning.</p>

<p>只要看著你 Once I see you / Whenever I see you<br>
只要看你 I just want to see you</p>

<p>There is no sense of continuous action, rather, repetitive occurrence, he is saying, 'Any (and every) time I see you, I remember the time we met.'</p>

<p>LuHan:停不住 我鼓足勇气去爱 can't stop I('ve got to) keep up the courage to love</p>

<p>Lay:只要看著你 just need to look at you</p>

<p>Lay:画面 倒回被命运击中的一刻 (and I) picture the moment destiny brought us together </p>

<p>我听见一个梦从银河降落 I heard a dream descend from the milky way</p>

<p>着 is used a lot in Chinese, but I find it mostly does not correspond to what is called 'the continuous aspect' in Western grammar, although it may in certain situations. So you should not just think, 'Aha, 着 = -ing.' </p>

<p>(Cf: 小王的眼睛闭着，Xiao Wang’s eyes were closed, (not 'closing') If 'closed' is 'continuous aspect' what is Past Tense?)</p>

<p>This sentence talks about a big old bird, which 'lived', not 'is living', a long time ago. In English, the so-called Present Tense mostly fulfills the task of indicating continuous action: I live in South America.</p>

<p>在6500万年前至250万年前的南美洲大陆生活着一种身体高达3米、 体重500公斤、不能飞翔的鸟类。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-13T06:04:46.537Z
2018-08-13T06:04:46.537Z
Pedroski
<p>What does 着 indicate in this sentence : "只要看着你" (I just want to look at you) indicate/mean? (This sentence is from a song called "Baby", sung by EXO-M. Since it comes from a song, the sentence might be shortened and could possibly lose some parts like subject, etc. Idk tho).</p>

<p>Also, aside of that sentence, is there any other usage of 着?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-12T07:56:58.783Z
着 is an aspect particle or 时态助词 indicating the continuous aspect of an action，＂汉语语法基础＂：动词加＂着＂表示动作还在继续。Yufa! cf. A Practical Guide to Mandarin Chinese Grammar： an optional 呢 can appear at the end of the sentence 你看，邮局的门开着，邮局还在营业，我要去买几张邮票。Look, the door of the post office is open. The post office is still doing business.
I am going to buy a few stamps.小王的眼睛闭着，我想他大概在睡觉所以没有跟他打招呼。Xiao Wang’s eyes were closed. I thought he might be sleeping, so I didn’t greet him.  https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Aspect_particle_%22zhe%22
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-12T15:31:44.183Z
@user6065 You could make it an answer.
zyy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-12T22:10:49.717Z
users wonder whether question belongs to the category "finer points of the Chinese language"
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-12T22:45:49.417Z
Other similar usage: 着火了 fire is on.
WDC
<simplified-characters>
着 meaning in 只要看着你
# 着 meaning in 只要看着你

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-08-12)

What does 着 indicate in this sentence : "只要看着你" (I just want to look at you) indicate/mean? (This sentence is from a song called "Baby", sung by EXO-M. Since it comes from a song, the sentence might be shortened and could possibly lose some parts like subject, etc. Idk tho).

Also, aside of that sentence, is there any other usage of 着?

**Tags:** simplified-characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 着 is an aspect particle or 时态助词 indicating the continuous aspect of an action，＂汉语语法基础＂：动词加＂着＂表示动作还在继续。Yufa! cf. A Practical Guide to Mandarin Chinese Grammar： an optional 呢 can appear at the end of the sentence 你看，邮局的门开着，邮局还在营业，我要去买几张邮票。Look, the door of the post office is open. The post office is still doing business. I am going to buy a few stamps.小王的眼睛闭着，我想他大概在睡觉所以没有跟他打招呼。Xiao Wang’s eyes were closed. I thought he might be sleeping, so I didn’t greet him.  https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Aspect_particle_%22zhe%22  
> **username_2**: @username_1 You could make it an answer.  
> **username_1**: users wonder whether question belongs to the category "finer points of the Chinese language"  
> **username_3**: Other similar usage: 着火了 fire is on.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-08-13. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Trashy lyrics. Take out the 着 changes the meaning.

只要看著你 Once I see you / Whenever I see you  
只要看你 I just want to see you

There is no sense of continuous action, rather, repetitive occurrence, he is saying, 'Any (and every) time I see you, I remember the time we met.'

LuHan:停不住 我鼓足勇气去爱 can't stop I('ve got to) keep up the courage to love

Lay:只要看著你 just need to look at you

Lay:画面 倒回被命运击中的一刻 (and I) picture the moment destiny brought us together

我听见一个梦从银河降落 I heard a dream descend from the milky way

着 is used a lot in Chinese, but I find it mostly does not correspond to what is called 'the continuous aspect' in Western grammar, although it may in certain situations. So you should not just think, 'Aha, 着 = -ing.'

(Cf: 小王的眼睛闭着，Xiao Wang’s eyes were closed, (not 'closing') If 'closed' is 'continuous aspect' what is Past Tense?)

This sentence talks about a big old bird, which 'lived', not 'is living', a long time ago. In English, the so-called Present Tense mostly fulfills the task of indicating continuous action: I live in South America.

在6500万年前至250万年前的南美洲大陆生活着一种身体高达3米、 体重500公斤、不能飞翔的鸟类。


---

