sehen
German
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle High German sehen, from Old High German sehan, from Proto-West Germanic *sehwan.
Compare Low German sehn, Hunsrik sihn, Dutch zien, English see, Danish se, Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈzeː.ən/ (official standard, but less common)
- IPA(key): /zeːn/ (predominant)
- Rhymes: -eːən, -eːn
- Homophone: Seen (only according to the official standard)
Audio (Germany): (file) Audio (Austria): (file)
Verb
sehen (class 5 strong, third-person singular present sieht, past tense sah, past participle gesehen, past subjunctive sähe, auxiliary haben)
- (intransitive) to see; to have sight
- Er sieht nicht gut. ― He doesn’t see well.
- (transitive) to see (something); to perceive by vision
- 2016, Selma Lagerlöf, translated by Mathilde Mann, edited by Karl-Maria Guth, Jerusalem. Erster und zweiter Teil, Berlin: Sammlung Hofenberg im Verlag der Contumax GmbH, page 225:
- Sahest du nicht den Patriarchen der Armenier ebenso wie den der Griechen und der Assyrer ihre Throne hier errichten? Und sahest du nicht Kopten aus dem alten Ägypten und Abessinier aus dem Herzen Afrikas kommen? Du sahest Jerusalem wieder aufgebaut, eine Stadt von Kirchen und Klöstern, von Gasthäusern und frommen Stiftungen.
- Did you not see the patriarch of the Armenians as well as that of the Greeks and of the Assyrians erect their thrones here? Did you not see the Copts come from ancient Egypt and the Abyssinians come from the heart of Africa? You saw Jerusalem built anew, a city of churches and monasteries, of inns and religious foundations.
- (transitive) to see [with accusative ‘someone’ and bare infinitive ‘do something’]
- Ich sah ihn arbeiten. ― I saw him work.
- Ich hatte ihn arbeiten sehen. ― I saw him work.
- (transitive or intransitive) to realize; to notice; to see; to find out
- (transitive) to meet (someone); to meet up; to see; but not in the sense of “pay a visit to”, nor as a euphemism for having a romantic or sexual relation
- Siehst du den Markus noch?
- Do you still see Markus? (Do you meet him regularly? Are you still friends with him?)
- (intransitive) to look (at); to watch [with auf (+ accusative) or nach (+ dative) ‘someone/something’]; the construction with nach often implies a turning of the head; other prepositions can be used depending on the context
- (intransitive) to check on; to look after; to see to [with nach (+ dative)]
- (intransitive, informal) to decide spontaneously and/or by personal preference; to wait and see
Usage notes
When sehen is used with an accusative and bare infinitive and put into the perfect or pluperfect tense, the infinitive usually replaces the past participle, as in the example above. The use of the past participle instead does occur in some speakers, but is ungrammatical to many others.
Conjugation
infinitive | sehen | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | sehend | ||||
past participle | gesehen | ||||
auxiliary | haben | ||||
indicative | subjunctive | ||||
singular | plural | singular | plural | ||
present | ich sehe | wir sehen | i | ich sehe | wir sehen |
du siehst | ihr seht | du sehest | ihr sehet | ||
er sieht | sie sehen | er sehe | sie sehen | ||
preterite | ich sah | wir sahen | ii | ich sähe1 | wir sähen1 |
du sahst | ihr saht | du sähest1 du sähst1 |
ihr sähet1 ihr säht1 | ||
er sah | sie sahen | er sähe1 | sie sähen1 | ||
imperative | sieh (du) siehe (du) |
seht (ihr) |
1This form and alternative in würde both found.
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- German terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- German terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms inherited from Old High German
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- German terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German 1-syllable words
- Rhymes:German/eːən
- Rhymes:German/eːən/2 syllables
- Rhymes:German/eːn
- German terms with homophones
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German verbs
- German strong verbs
- German class 5 strong verbs
- German verbs using haben as auxiliary
- German intransitive verbs
- German terms with usage examples
- German transitive verbs
- German terms with quotations
- German informal terms
- de:Vision