nachweisen

Nachweisen is a German verb meaning to prove or demonstrate something by providing evidence, to verify a claim, or to establish the truth of a statement. It also appears in the noun form Nachweis, meaning proof or piece of evidence. In scientific, legal, and everyday contexts, nachweisen denotes making the existence or accuracy of something demonstrable through data, documents, or observations. The related adjective nachweislich means demonstrably verifiable or proven.

Morphology and usage

Nachweisen is a separable-prefix verb. In present tense you typically separate the prefix: ich weise nach, du weisst nach, er weist nach. The past participle is nachgewiesen, used with auxiliary haben (Ich habe den Sachverhalt nachgewiesen). The simple past form is wies nach, though it is less common in modern speech. In many constructions the passive or semi‑fixed forms appear, such as Es lässt sich nachweisen or Der Nachweis wurde erbracht. Common collocations include einen Nachweis erbringen, einen Nachweis führen, einen Nachweis liefern.

Noun and related terms

Der Nachweis refers to a proof or piece of evidence, with plural die Nachweise. Nachweislich is an adverb or adjective meaning demonstrably or verifiably. Distinctions with Beweis can vary by context; Beweis often emphasizes formal proof, while Nachweis stresses evidence or documentation that substantiates a claim. In academic and scientific writing, Nachweis is frequently used to describe empirical support for a hypothesis or finding.

Contexts

In academia, nachweisen is used to show that results confirm a hypothesis. In law and administration, Nachweis fulfills the requirement to present sufficient evidence. In medicine and science, proving a correlation or diagnosis relies on Nachweis durch Daten, tests oder Beobachtungen. Overall, nachweisen conveys the act of substantiating a claim through verifiable evidence.