Ausblicken

Ausblicken is a German verb that denotes the act of looking outward or forward. It is formed from the prefix aus- combined with blicken (to glance or look). The related noun Ausblick means an outlook, view, or forecast, and the two terms share the same semantic field of orientation in space or time.

Usage and meanings

- Literal sense: ausblicken refers to looking outward in a physical sense. In everyday language, the more common construction is the separable verb phrase aus dem Fenster schauen or hinausblicken, for example: Er blickte aus dem Fenster hinaus. In many contexts, speakers prefer those expressions over a one-word ausblicken.

- Figurative sense: in a forward-looking or predictive sense, German tends to use phrases such as in die Zukunft schauen or die Zukunft im Blick haben. The noun Ausblick remains the standard way to denote an outlook or forecast, as in einen Ausblick geben or ein wirtschaftlicher Ausblick.

Pronunciation and morphology

- Ausblicken is typically treated as a verb formed with a separable prefix, and in actual usage the literal sense is most often conveyed with blick[en] plus a directional complement (z. B. aus dem Fenster).

Relation to related terms

- Ausblick (noun): the commonly used form for “outlook” or “view.”

- Blicken, schauen: core verbs related to looking.

- Hinausblicken: a closely related phrase meaning “to look outward/to look ahead.”

See also

- Ausblick (noun)

- Blicken, schauen

- Aus dem Fenster schauen

- Hinausblicken

- Zukunft

Ausblicken appears primarily in written or formal contexts and is less frequent in everyday speech, where alternative expressions for literal or figurative looking are preferred.