German

Noun

Sehen n ‎(genitive Sehens, no plural)

1. gerund of sehen: "seeing"

Declension

Anagrams

• Sehne

German

Alternative forms

• sehn (dated in formal prose, but still common informally or poetically)

Verb

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1. (intransitive) to see; to look; to have sight

   auf etwas sehen — “to look at something”

   nach etwas sehen — “to look for something”

2. (intransitive, with “nach ...”) to take care (of something or someone); to make (something) happen; to see (to something); to look (after someone)
3. (transitive) to see (something); to view; to watch; to observe; to look at
   • 2016, Selma Lagerlöf, Mathilde Mann (translator), Karl-Maria Guth (editor), Jerusalem. Erster und zweiter Teil, Sammlung Hofenberg im Verlag der Contumax GmbH, Berlin, page 225:

     Sahest du nicht den Patriarchen der Armenier ebenso wie den der Griechen und der Assyrer ihre Throne hier errichten? Und sahest du nicht Kopten aus dem alten Ägypten und Abessinier aus dem Herzen Afrikas kommen? Du sahest Jerusalem wieder aufgebaut, eine Stadt von Kirchen und Klöstern, von Gasthäusern und frommen Stiftungen.

4. (transitive) to notice; to perceive; to realize
5. (reflexive with a plural subject or transitive) to meet; to go to see

Usage notes

Sehen can be used in a so-called "accusative with infinitive" construction (as in English): Ich sah ihn arbeiten. – “I saw him work.” If such a sentence is in the perfect or pluperfect tense, the infinitive usually replaces the past participle: Ich hatte ihn arbeiten sehen. – “I had seen him work.” The use of the past participle instead does occur in some speakers, but is ungrammatical to many others.

Conjugation

Note: There is also sahest besides (du) sahst and sähst besides (du) sähest.

Derived terms

Related terms