What is the difference between 見る and 見える?

Question

I've been coming across this weird verb conjugation that seems to happen in some verbs, where you replace る with える, e.g. 見る → 見える。

Is this a different verb form, how does it change the meaning of the verb?

Possible duplicate of What is the difference between 見える【みえる】／聞こえる【きこえる】 and 見られる【みられる】／聞ける【きける】? — broccoli forest, Sep 17, 2016 at 6:54
Same thing with 聞く to listen; 聞こえる to hear. First one has active effort, second one is more passive, I guess. (The English approximations aren't really that good.) — oals, Sep 17, 2016 at 7:16
@broccoliforest I don't think that's a duplicate; it focusses on the potential form only. — oals, Sep 17, 2016 at 8:34

Faily Feely · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-17 12:31:14Z

見る and 見える are separate verbs in the present Japanese language.

You know, 見る is to look at.

見える has a couple of meanings; they also apply to other verbs like 聞こえる, 思える, etc.

possibility.

ここから東京スカイツリーが見える。

We can see the Tokyo Sky Tree here.
occurring unintentionally.

ちょっと見えただけなんだ。君のスカートの中を見ようとしたわけじゃないよ。

It merely jumped into my sight; I was never trying to see what's in your skirt.
to seem.

彼はこの時間をとても楽しんでいるように見える。

He seems to be having a really good time.

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