gucken

Gucken is a colloquial German verb that means to look or to watch. It is widely used in everyday speech and in informal writing, but it is considered informal and is often avoided in formal contexts where schauen or sehen would be preferred. The word is common across German-speaking regions, with particularly strong usage in southern Germany and Austria.

Usage and forms

- Present indicative: ich gucke, du guckst, er guckt, wir gucken, ihr guckt, sie gucken.

- Simple past (Präteritum): ich guckte, du gucktest, er guckte, wir guckten, ihr gucktet, sie guckten.

- Present perfect (Perfekt): ich habe geguckt.

- Imperative: Guck mal! oder Guckt mal!

- Transitivity: gucken can take a direct object (Ich gucke den Film) or be used with a reflexive construction to emphasize attention (Ich gucke mir den Film an). The latter is common and corresponds to the standard German anschauen/ansehen.

Angucken and related phrases

- The prefixed form angucken (with the dative reflexive form ich gucke mir etw. an) is very common for “to take a look at” something. In this use, the past participle is typically angeguckt or angeschaut in everyday speech, though forms vary regionally.

Relation to other verbs

- Gucken is informal but widely understood. In formal writing or speech, zu sehen or schauen/ansehen are preferred. Gucken often conveys immediacy, spontaneity, or emphasis in casual conversation.

See also

- schauen, sehen, ansehen, anschauen, angucken.