看起来 (looks / seems)

You can tell at a glance

• Sometimes you judge by appearance: she looks tired, it seems expensive.
• Chinese frames that first impression with seemingly看起来kàn qǐ lái.
• It's how you say "it looks / seems …" before you know for sure.

seemingly看起来kàn qǐ lái + Description

• (Subj) + seemingly看起来kàn qǐ lái + Adj / Clause — "looks / seems …".

he他tālooks看起来kàn qǐ láivery很hěntired累lèi。

• he / him他tāseemingly看起来kàn qǐ lái很累hěn lèi = "he looks very tired."

Use it to soften a guess

• seemingly看起来kàn qǐ lái signals you're judging from the surface, not stating a fact.

this这zhè(measure word)个gedish菜càilooks看起来kàn qǐ láivery很hěndelicious好吃hǎo chī。

• seemingly看起来kàn qǐ láivery很hěnto be fond of eating好吃hǎo chī = "it looks delicious" — you haven't tasted it yet.

Recap

Read the full reference: HSK 3 grammar — Verbs.