German Looking & Seeing Vocabulary
German splits "looking" into far more precise categories than English does. This set covers the basic act (schauen, gucken, ansehen) but also the specific flavors: staring fixedly (starren, fixieren), watching over time (beobachten), and studying something closely (betrachten). The tricky part for English speakers is that "look for" and "look at" use completely different verbs in German (suchen vs. ansehen) with no shared root, so you can't just bolt a preposition onto one verb the way English does.
Learn these 21 words
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All 21 words
- suchenA1
search, look for
Suchst du etwas? — Are you looking for something?
- ansehenA2
to look at
Ich sehe (mir) diese Sendung jeden Tag an. — I watch this programme every day.
- blickenA2
to glance, to look
Sie blickt kurz auf die Uhr. — She glances briefly at the clock.
- findenA2
find
Wir müssen den Schlüssel finden. — We need to find the key.
issue, display
Im Schaufenster sind Winterschuhe ausgestellt. — Winter shoes are displayed in the shop window.
choose
Such dir etwas Schönes aus! Ich lade dich ein. — Choose something nice! I'm inviting you.
select, choose
Für die Aufgabe können Sie aus drei Themen auswählen. — For the assignment you can select from three topics.
- beachtenB1
notice, observe
Bitte beachten Sie die Ansagen am Bahnsteig. — Please notice the announcements on the platform.
- bemerkenB1
notice, observe
Ich habe nicht bemerkt, dass das Fenster offen ist. — I didn't notice that the window was open.
watch, observe
Wer hat den Unfall beobachtet? — Who observed the accident?
to view, to contemplate
Er betrachtet das Gemälde lange. — He contemplates the painting for a long time.
to search through
Die Polizei durchsuchte das ganze Haus. — The police searched the whole house.
- erkennenB1
recognize, identify
Ich habe Roberto gleich an seiner Stimme erkannt. — I recognized Roberto immediately by his voice.
- fallenB1
fall, drop
Das Glas ist auf den Boden gefallen. — The glass fell on the floor.
- guckenB1
look, peek
Guck doch mal! Es schneit. — Look! It's snowing.
- schauenB1
look
Schau mal! Da vorne ist noch ein Platz frei. — Look! There's still a free spot up front.
- starrenB1
to stare
Sie starrte lange auf den Bildschirm. — She stared at the screen for a long time.
- ertastenB2
to feel for / make out by touch
Die Blinde ertastet die Treppen vorsichtig. — The blind woman feels for the stairs carefully.
- fixierenB2
to fix / lock (aka look at)
Er fixiert den Punkt auf der Wand. — He fixes his gaze on the point on the wall.
- pikenC1
to prick
Die Dorne piken die Haut. — The thorns prick the skin.
- stierenC1
to stare / gape / eye (wenig benutzt)
Er stiert ungläubig auf den Monitor. — He stares in disbelief at the monitor.
How to learn this set
Group these by what they attach to: ansehen, betrachten, and beobachten all take a direct accusative object with no preposition (ich beobachte den Vogel, not beobachte AUF den Vogel), which trips up learners who expect a preposition to show up like "at" or "on" does in English. Separately, notice the sich-suchen family: suchen, aussuchen, auswählen, durchsuchen all share the root such- or wähl-, so once you know suchen means "search," aussuchen (pick out) and durchsuchen (search through) become easy to guess from the prefix. Drill erkennen and bemerken together since both get translated as "notice" or "recognize," but erkennen means identifying something you already know, while bemerken means catching sight of something new.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between schauen and gucken?
They mean almost the same thing (both are casual versions of "look"), but gucken is more colloquial and northern German, while schauen is more common in southern Germany and Austria. Both are used constantly in spoken German.
Why does German have separate words for beobachten and betrachten?
Beobachten means to watch something over time to see what it does, like observing a bird's behavior. Betrachten means to look at something closely to study its details, like examining a painting. English uses "observe" loosely for both, but German keeps them separate.
Is ansehen the same as sehen?
No. Sehen means to see in the general sense of perceiving with your eyes, while ansehen means to actively look at something specific. You sehen a bird fly past without trying, but you ansehen a photo on purpose.
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