What does sehen mean in German?

Sehen means "to see", in the sense of perceiving something with your eyes. It is one of the most common verbs in German.

How do you conjugate sehen?

The present tense is ich sehe, du siehst, er/sie/es sieht, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie sehen. The du and er forms change the stem vowel from e to ie.

Is sehen regular or irregular?

Sehen is a strong verb. It changes its stem vowel in the present tense (du siehst), takes sah in the simple past, and has gesehen as its past participle.

What is the difference between sehen and schauen?

Sehen is passive: something comes into your field of vision. Schauen is active: you deliberately look at something. Gucken means the same as schauen but sounds more casual.

How do you say to watch TV in German?

Use fernsehen, which is a separable verb. In a sentence the prefix moves to the end: ich sehe jeden Abend fern (I watch TV every evening).

German Words for Beginners

Verb

sehen

to see

Sehen (to see) is a strong verb with a vowel change that appears only in two present tense forms. The du and er/sie/es forms shift the stem e to ie, giving du siehst and er sieht, while everything else keeps the e: ich sehe, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie sehen. This e to ie change is a pattern shared with lesen (to read) and geben (to give), so learning it once pays off several times.

The simple past is sah and the past participle is gesehen. The perfect tense takes haben: ich habe den Film gesehen (I saw the film).

German has several words for looking, and they are not interchangeable. Sehen is passive perception, what your eyes take in. Schauen and gucken mean to look at something deliberately, with gucken being casual and regional. Ansehen means to watch or view something attentively. So ich sehe ein Auto means a car came into view, while ich schaue mir das Auto an means you are inspecting it.

Fernsehen (to watch television) is separable, which means the prefix moves to the end of the sentence: ich sehe fern (I am watching TV). The related noun das Fernsehen is television as a medium, and der Fernseher is the physical set.

A common goodbye is wir sehen uns! (see you!), which uses the reflexive form to mean "we will see each other".

Present tense conjugation of sehen

Irregular verb

English

to see

ichsehe

dusiehst

er/sie/essieht

wirsehen

ihrseht

sie/Siesehen

Perfekt

ich habe gesehen

Partizip II

gesehen

Auxiliary

haben

Vocabulary lists with sehen

sehen appears in the following vocabulary collections:

Culture & Entertainment

Goethe A1 Irregular Verbs

Goethe A1 strong verbs: Past Tense (Perfekt)

Practice sehen in games

Example Sentences

Ich sehe den Hund im Garten.
I see the dog in the garden.
Verb in position 2 after the subject.
Wir sehen heute einen Film.
We see a movie today.
Time comes before the object (TeKaMoLo).
Siehst du das Haus dort?
Do you see the house there?
Yes/no questions start with the verb.

Frequently asked questions about sehen

What does sehen mean in German?: Sehen means "to see", in the sense of perceiving something with your eyes. It is one of the most common verbs in German.
How do you conjugate sehen?: The present tense is ich sehe, du siehst, er/sie/es sieht, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie sehen. The du and er forms change the stem vowel from e to ie.
Is sehen regular or irregular?: Sehen is a strong verb. It changes its stem vowel in the present tense (du siehst), takes sah in the simple past, and has gesehen as its past participle.
What is the difference between sehen and schauen?: Sehen is passive: something comes into your field of vision. Schauen is active: you deliberately look at something. Gucken means the same as schauen but sounds more casual.
How do you say to watch TV in German?: Use fernsehen, which is a separable verb. In a sentence the prefix moves to the end: ich sehe jeden Abend fern (I watch TV every evening).