sehen

Seben is a German verb meaning to see, observe, or perceive with the eyes. It is a core verb in everyday speech and appears in many idiomatic expressions and compound verbs. The basic sense covers literal vision as well as figurative perception.

Conjugation and forms

In the present tense: ich sehe, du siehst, er sieht, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie sehen. The simple past (Präteritum) is ich sah, du sahst, er sah, wir sahen, ihr saht, sie sahen. The past participle is gesehen, and the auxiliary for perfect tenses is haben, yielding ich habe gesehen, du hast gesehen, er hat gesehen, etc. The verb also has subjunctive forms: Konjunktiv I lautet z. B. ich sehe, du sehest, er sehe, wir sehen, ihr sehet, sie sehen; Konjunktiv II bildet sähe, sähest, sähe, sähen, sähet, sähen. The imperative forms are sieh (du), seht (ihr), sehen Sie (formal).

Usage and meanings

Ssehen is used for literal vision and for metaphorical perception, as in recognizing, understanding, or becoming aware of something. It combines with prefixes to form numerous related verbs with distinct shades of meaning, such as ansehen (to look at, to regard), aussehen (to appear), durchsehen (to review or inspect), übersehen (to overlook), and wiedersehen (to see again, be reunited). In phrases like Wie sieht das aus? (How does that look?), das sieht gut aus, the prefix aus changes the sense to appearance. The verb also participates in expressions of intention or perception, such as sehen lassen (to have something done, to let someone see to it).

Noun form and related terms

The noun Sehen refers to the act of seeing or to sight itself, commonly used as das Sehen or the concept of visual perception. The verb ist irregular and forms the backbone of many German expressions related to vision and awareness.