forschen

Forschen is a German verb meaning to conduct systematic inquiry in order to acquire knowledge. It is commonly used in scientific and academic contexts, but can also describe investigative work in other fields, such as journalism, policy studies, or cultural research.

Conjugation and usage: ich forsche, du forschst, er/sie/es forscht, wir forschen, ihr forscht, sie forschen. The past tense is forschte; the perfect tense is hat geforscht. The verb is typically used with a subject performing the activity and, in many cases, with nach + Dativ to indicate what is being sought. Examples: "Die Wissenschaft forscht an neuen Materialien." "Sie forscht nach den Ursachen des Phänomens."

Forms and related words: das Forschen refers to the act of researching; die Forschung is the more common term for research as a field or discipline; der Forscher denotes a person who conducts research. "Forschen" is often contrasted with "untersuchen" (to examine) or "recherchieren" (to investigate or research information, often in a journalistic or archival sense).

Context and nuance: Forschen emphasizes the process of inquiry, questioning, and exploration, including experimentation and theoretical work. It spans natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and interdisciplinary areas, and is frequently used in university and laboratory contexts, but is not limited to them.

Origin: The verb derives from the stem forsch- with the standard -en ending; related noun forms include das Forschen and die Forschung, as well as der Forscher.