Why does this sentence need a "te"?

Question

I read a sentence: "Te ves muy bien.(You look very well.)"

I don't know why it needs a "te" here.

Doesn't it literally mean "You look at yourself very well"?

Or, should it be explained as "You yourself look very well"?

Besides, what does "(Tú) Ves muy bien" mean? Is it a grammatically correct sentence?

Or, can I say "Te veo muy bien"?

Answer 1

I'm sure it looks very different, but then again, this is where Spanish grammar differs from English grammar.

"Te" can be the indirect pronoun or part of a reflexive verb. It would appear here, that "te" is being used reflexively. To avoid the confusion, I'm going to use names. For example:

"Angie, you look very well." ("Angie, te ves muy bien.") "Thanks, Barb." ("Gracias, Barb.")

In English, it is assumed that Angie was the one that did the work on making herself look very well. In Spanish, a reflexive verb is used to indicate that Angie was the one who worked on making herself look very well. If you take out the "te", then you change the context of the sentence and instead of talking about Angie, now you're saying that Angie is looking very well for something else. Go here for the explanation, and here for the lesson in more detail.

Hola, SaigeSmith. Thanks for your answer. Could you make a (long/full) sentence without "te" for me? And does the sentence "Te veo muy bien" exist? - joygogo, Oct 6, 2013

Answer 2

Addendum to what Saige wrote:

Yes, the sentence "Te veo muy bien" does exist, and it means "I see you very well."

It's "te ves" not "te veo" so it does not mean "I see you..." - Jubilado, Oct 6, 2013

Jubilado, Joy had another question. - Raja-jani, Oct 6, 2013