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The sentence

> 鈴木さんは見た目より若く見えますね。

apparently translates to

> Mr. Suzuki's not as old as he looks.

However, if we break this sentence down a bit:

  * **見た目:** appearance
  * **若く見えます:** appears-youngly (or more idiomatically: "seems young")

...it seems to me this sentence is literally comparing an _appearance_ with an
_appearance_. Something like:

> As for Suzuki, he _appears younger_ than his appearance.

But what we actually want to do is compare an _appearance_ with an _age_ ,
right? Something like:

> As for Suzuki, he _is_ younger than his appearance.

**Question:** Can "若く見えます" mean "is young", in addition to just "seems/appears
young"? If not, how to make sense of this sentence?
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2022-11-24T01:00:27.560
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translation
Understanding 「鈴木さんは見た目より若く見えますね。」
As you said, 見た目より若く見えます is somewhat nonsensical because it suggests that
someone looks old and young at the same time.(*) I feel like it at least needs
some qualifications, like "his _physical features_ may look old when taken
individually but his _overall impression_ is not that of a typical old man".
(This is just a made up example, other qualifications are possible.) Perhaps
the writer might assume the reader knows the unsaid qualifications so they
don't see the need to clarify, though.

* [｢見た目より若く見える｣ - これって日本語がおかしい、というか矛盾してますよね？](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q12205369297)
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2022-11-24T03:21:38.713
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answer