voraussagen

Voraussagen is a German verb that means to forecast or to predict future events. It derives from the prefix voraus- meaning beforehand, attached to sagen, “to say.” The combination emphasizes making a statement about what will happen in the future.

In usage, voraussagen covers forecasts about various domains, including weather, economics, politics, or social trends. It is common in journalism, science, and everyday speech. For example: “Der Experte sagte voraus, dass die Temperatur steigen werde.” In weather reporting one often uses Vorhersage rather than voraussagen: “Der Wetterdienst hat eine Sturmwarnung vorhergesagt.” Both forms exist and are sometimes interchangeable, though Vorhersage is more standard for a forecast, while voraussagen can carry a broader sense of predicting as a claim about the future. Phrasal expressions include “eine Voraussage treffen” or “eine Prognose abgeben.”

Grammatical notes: Voraussagen is a regular verb with the prefix that behaves as a unit in many tenses. In the present tense you say: ich sage voraus, du sagst voraus, er sagt voraus. The perfect tense is formed with haben: er hat vorausgesagt. The simple past uses sagte voraus. The infinitive is voraussagen, and the past participle is vorausgesagt.

Noun forms include die Voraussage or die Vorhersage, both meaning a forecast or prediction. In contemporary usage, Vorhersage is more common, especially for weather or statistical forecasts, while Voraussage appears in older or more formal contexts and in fixed phrases. See also: Vorhersage, Prognose, Prognostik.