〜見るに見かねる (〜みるにみかねる): You see something sad or bad. You feel you must do something. You cannot just watch it happen.

Dictionary

〜見るに見かねる

You see something sad or bad. You feel you must do something. You cannot just watch it happen.

N1 KMT8NeutralStandardVerb ConstructionMixedUnbearable Or UnwatchableGrammar

Verb [dictionary form] + に + Verb [stem] + かねるPrimary

You see something sad or bad. You feel you must do something. You cannot just watch it happen.

公園でいじめられている子を見るに見かねて、止めに入った。

I couldn't bear to watch the child being bullied in the park, so I stepped in to stop it.

NeutralPastAffirmativeMid SentenceDeclarativeDaily Life Emotions & Psychology

あのチームの試合は下手すぎて、もう見るに見かねるレベルだよ。

That team's game is so bad, it's reached a level that's unwatchable.

CasualNon PastAffirmativeSentence EndingDeclarativeSports & Martial Arts

飢えに苦しむ人々を見るに見かねた医者が、私財を投じて支援を始めた。

A doctor, unable to bear watching people suffer from starvation, began providing aid using their own funds.

FormalPastAffirmativePrenominalDeclarativeMedicine & Health Politics & Law

彼の悲惨な状況を見ても、見るに見かねるという気持ちにはならなかった。

Even watching his tragic situation, I didn't feel as though I couldn't bear to see it.

NeutralPastNegativeMid SentenceDeclarativeEmotions & Psychology

後輩が何度も同じミスをするのを見るに見かね、つい口を出してしまった。

I couldn't stand to watch my junior make the same mistake over and over, and ended up intervening.

NeutralPastAffirmativeMid SentenceDeclarativeWork & Career

This phrase is for seeing a sad situation. You want to help. "〜に堪えない" is about strong feelings inside you. Those feelings can be good or bad. "〜てはいられない" means you cannot stay in a situation. This is for any strong reason, not just seeing something sad.

Don't use this when you are not talking about "seeing" something. For example, you would not say "食べるに見かねる" (unable to bear eating it).

Use this when you want to explain why you did something. You saw a sad situation. You could not just watch it. So you took action.

Often confused with(1)

〜に堪えない（〜にたえない）

This means something is so bad you cannot stand it. It is not worth doing or seeing. You feel very negatively about it.

Contrasts with(1)

〜に堪えない（〜にたえない）

This means something is so bad you cannot stand it. It is not worth doing or seeing. You feel very negatively about it.

辞書形

This is the basic form of a verb. It is what you find in a dictionary. You use it to make other verb forms.

Verb stem form

This is a special form of a verb. You use it to join verbs together. You can also use it to make a noun from a verb.

〜かねる

This means you cannot do something. It is often because of a reason you cannot control. You use it to say "no" politely, like in a store.

Track your mastery

Kumi's KMT system tracks your mastery across kanji, vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Create a free account to use it on 220,000+ concepts.

Dictionary

〜見るに見かねる

You see something sad or bad. You feel you must do something. You cannot just watch it happen.

N1 KMT8NeutralStandardVerb ConstructionMixedUnbearable Or UnwatchableGrammar

Verb [dictionary form] + に + Verb [stem] + かねるPrimary

You see something sad or bad. You feel you must do something. You cannot just watch it happen.

公園でいじめられている子を見るに見かねて、止めに入った。

I couldn't bear to watch the child being bullied in the park, so I stepped in to stop it.

NeutralPastAffirmativeMid SentenceDeclarativeDaily Life Emotions & Psychology

あのチームの試合は下手すぎて、もう見るに見かねるレベルだよ。

That team's game is so bad, it's reached a level that's unwatchable.

CasualNon PastAffirmativeSentence EndingDeclarativeSports & Martial Arts

飢えに苦しむ人々を見るに見かねた医者が、私財を投じて支援を始めた。

A doctor, unable to bear watching people suffer from starvation, began providing aid using their own funds.

FormalPastAffirmativePrenominalDeclarativeMedicine & Health Politics & Law

彼の悲惨な状況を見ても、見るに見かねるという気持ちにはならなかった。

Even watching his tragic situation, I didn't feel as though I couldn't bear to see it.

NeutralPastNegativeMid SentenceDeclarativeEmotions & Psychology

後輩が何度も同じミスをするのを見るに見かね、つい口を出してしまった。

I couldn't stand to watch my junior make the same mistake over and over, and ended up intervening.

NeutralPastAffirmativeMid SentenceDeclarativeWork & Career

Don't use this when you are not talking about "seeing" something. For example, you would not say "食べるに見かねる" (unable to bear eating it).

Use this when you want to explain why you did something. You saw a sad situation. You could not just watch it. So you took action.

Often confused with(1)

〜に堪えない（〜にたえない）

This means something is so bad you cannot stand it. It is not worth doing or seeing. You feel very negatively about it.

Contrasts with(1)

〜に堪えない（〜にたえない）

This means something is so bad you cannot stand it. It is not worth doing or seeing. You feel very negatively about it.

辞書形

This is the basic form of a verb. It is what you find in a dictionary. You use it to make other verb forms.

Verb stem form

This is a special form of a verb. You use it to join verbs together. You can also use it to make a noun from a verb.

〜かねる

This means you cannot do something. It is often because of a reason you cannot control. You use it to say "no" politely, like in a store.

Track your mastery

Kumi's KMT system tracks your mastery across kanji, vocabulary, grammar, and reading. Create a free account to use it on 220,000+ concepts.

〜見るに見かねる

Patterns1

Meaning

Examples5

Contrasts1

Restrictions1

Discourse Function1

Compare with2

Often confused with(1)

Contrasts with(1)

Prerequisites3

Track your mastery

〜見るに見かねる

Patterns1

Meaning

Examples5

Contrasts1

Restrictions1

Discourse Function1

Compare with2

Often confused with(1)

Contrasts with(1)

Prerequisites3

Track your mastery