What does 的 mean in this sentence ... 想看的现在报名

Question

I am learning Mandarin at coursera. The reading material has a sentence like "想看的现在报名". I can guess the meaning of it as "If you want to see it, register now". But i dont know the reason why 的 is there. Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

What does 的 mean in this sentence ... 想看的现在报名

想看的现在报名 = 想看的(人)现在报名. (as @Tang said)

In Chinese, sentences often omit the noun after "的", especially something general, such as "东西", "人", etc. For example,

公园里有吃的，有喝的，有玩儿的。= 有吃的东西，有喝的东西，有玩儿的东西。

一年级的在左边，二年级的在右边。 = 一年级的学生，二年级的学生。

This is quite similar to English: The red (apple) is sweet.

Answer 2

All languages shorten speech. We know from practice and context what is meant.

But i dont know the reason why 的 is there.

You can leave out 的

想看现在报名.
Wanna watch, register now.

如果你想看的话,现在报名.
If you want to watch, register now.

想看的人现在报名.
Those people who want to watch (should) register now.

哪些人想看的,可以现在报名.
Those people who want to watch can register now.

哪些人想看的? 可以现在报名.
Who wants to watch? (You) can register now.

的: those (学生们, 人, 领导人, 女士们, 话)