Dutch Verb Zien ('to See') - Smartphones Page

You could read and listen to the examples first - 'immersion'

'zien' 'to see' is a strong verb

zien to see

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zag saw

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gezien seen

overview
zien		to see
ik zie		I see
wij zien		we see
ik zag		I saw
wij zagen		we saw
ik heb gezien		I have seen
2

simple present tense
zien		to see
ik zie		I see
jij ziet		you see (singular, informal you)
hij ziet		he sees
wij zien		we see
jullie zien		you see (plural, informal you)
zij zien		they see
U ziet		you see (polite you)

simple past tense
(zien)		to see
ik zag		I saw
jij zag		you saw
hij zag		he saw
wij zagen		we saw
jullie zagen		y'all saw
zij zagen		they saw
U zag		you saw

present perfect tense
ik heb gezien	I have seen
auxiliary verb hebben
imperative
Zie!	See!

Zien and Kijken
English and Dutch have 'to see' - zien meaning something like 'observing with, using the eye' - usually with an object (the thing seen) or its 'placeholder' het 2 3 / 'it.'
Next to 'to see' 'zien'  English and Dutch have 'to look' - kijken ‑>> - meaning something like 'having the eyes pointed in a direction' - often combined with naar 'at' and the object observed or its placeholder. 'To watch' is sometimes a better translation of kijken.
It's not a problem for English-speakers, but not all languages follow the system of these two verbs with close equivalents.
In a similar way, there are two verbs for the ear: 'to hear' 'horen' 2 ‑>> and 'to listen' 'luisteren' ‑>>

Ik zag de vogels 2 3 I saw the birds Ik keek naar de vogels 2 3 I was looking at the birds Ik hoorde de vogels 2 3 I heard the birds Ik luisterde naar de vogels 2 3 I was listening to the birds

Sample Sentences

Ik zie het verband 2 3 I see how it's connected (the Gestalt) Alles grijpt in elkaar 'Everything is connected'

Zie je het verschil? 2 3 Do you see the difference? - More about Questions Ik zie het verschil I see the difference, I notice the difference

Heb je haar gezien? 2 Have you seen her? - Word Order Heb je haar gezicht gezien? 2 Have you seen her face? (het) gezicht 1. face 2. view
Gezicht op Delft View [at] of Delft - a Vermeer painting (het) rotgezicht 2 3 4 an unpleasant, repugnant or horrible sight - from bad fashion choices to violent crime scenes 't Is een rotgezicht 2 It's a bad to horrible sight

Heb je hun gezien? 2 Have you seen them?
Heb je hun hond gezien? 2 Have you seen their dog?

De agent vertelde de rechter wat hij gezien had The policeman told the judge what he'd seen
Ik zag vandaag een politieauto bij de school Today I saw a police car at the school

Hij ziet weinig He doesn't see much ('his sight is limited,' - but also: 'he doesn't notice much')

Ze bleven een week in Delft ... They stayed for a week in Delft ... ... want er was zo veel te zien ... because there was so much to see also: Omdat er zoveel te zien was Because there was so much to see

Ik zag de vogels 2 3 I saw the birds

Ik zie de sterren 2 I see the stars Ik zag de sterren I saw the stars
Toen het licht uitging zag ik de sterren 2 When the light went out I saw the stars - Word Order
Toen ik de sterren zag begreep ik ... 2 3 When I saw the stars I understood ... - Word Order

Je kon heel ver zien [You could see very far] visibility was very good Je kon niet ver zien [You couldn't see very far] visibility was low

Ik kan niet zien waar het lekt I can't see where it's leaking, where the leak is

Ik dacht dat je het leuk zou vinden om dit te zien 2 I had thought you'd enjoy seeing this

Hier ziet men de gevolgen 2 3 4 Here [one sees] you see the results, the consequences

Vanavond gaan we naar de bioscoop Tonight we'll go to the cinema

Gisteren heb ik 'Apocalypse Now' weer eens gezien Yesterday I've seen ... [another time] again Het was de derde keer dat ik 'm zag It was the third time I saw it

Het is een fantastische film It's a great movie

Vorige week hebben we ... gezien Last week we've seen ...

Ik heb die film niet gezien I have not seen that movie

zichzelf zien 2 3 to see oneself
Ik heb mezelf op TV gezien 2 3 I've seen myself on TV Zie je jezelf dat doen? 2 [Do you see yourself doing that?] Can you imagine doing that?

Zie de mens 2 'Behold (see) the man' (Ecce Homo - Pontius Pilate mocking Christ shortly before the crucifixion)
Ik ben gezien 2 3 I [have been] was seen (somebody saw me)

Kijk eens in de spiegel! 2 Look in the mirror! ->> En wat zie je dan? 2 3 And what do you see?

Ik heb Jan laatst nog gezien 2 I have seen, met with Jan some time ago (the other day)
Ik heb hem in geen jaren gezien 2 [I have seen him in no years] I haven't seen him in years

We zullen wel zien 2 We'll see Dat zien we dan wel weer 2 3 We'll see (about that) [then] when the time comes

Zie je wel? 2 [Do you see?] See? (I am/was right) - 'Told you so' - informal Ziet U wel? [Do you see?] See? (I am/was right) - 'I told you so' - polite

Ik begrijp niet wat ze in hem ziet I don't understand what she sees in him, his value to her (why she loves him)

Zo zie je maar ... This way you'll see ... Zo zie je maar wie echt je vrienden zijn This way you'll see [who really are] who your real friends are Zo te zien ... 2 3 [Seeing it this way] It looks like ...

Dat zie je zo 2 3 4 You see (notice) that right away, it's easy to see - See also: Disambiguation: 'Zo'

Ik zie er niks aan ([I see nothing on it] - 'I'm not noticing anything unusual about it')

Hoe kun je dat zien? 2 3 4 How can you see that? How can you tell?

Ik zag op 't nieuws dat er geen oplossing gevonden is I saw on the news that no solution was found

Wat doe je, als je dingen ziet die niemand ooit heeft gezien? 2 'What do you do, when you see things no one has ever seen [before]?'
- something that could have been said by Anthonie van Leeuwenhoek 17th Century Dutch scientist, inventor of the microscope - Lens on Leeuwenhoek

Tot ziens! 2 ['Till seeing'] See you!

faux 'old' Dutch for: Doorzie de grond 2 ['see through, look deep into] understand the soil'

Bij nader inzien ['Upon closer inspection'] - usually: 'After some reflection, having given it some thought' 't Heeft me doen inzien 2 3 It made me understand, it gave me the insight Ik zie het nut er niet van in 2 3 [I don't see the use of it] - I don't understand why it's useful, what it's good for

ik heb doen inzien ... 2 3 I have made see, I have created an understanding ... Ik heb de mensen doen inzien ... 2 3 I have made the people see, understand

'Afzien' 2 3 by itself means making a great and exhausting effort, like in sports or exercise
The more common afzien van 2 means 'to give up, abandon, renounce, forego'
Dat was afzien! 2 3 That was quite an effort! I'm exhausted afzien van vlees 2 3 4 giving up meat, become a vegetarian We zagen af van betaling 2 3 4 We decided not to ask for payment -or- we decided not to pay (for a very bad job) Ik zie er vanaf 2 3 I'm dropping this, I'll abandon it, I'm not pursuing it further

aanzienlijk 2 3 considerable, large
een aanzienlijk bedrag 2 3 a considerable sum (money) niet onaanzienlijke bedragen 2 3 not insignificant amounts of money, no trifling sums

For 'to show' Dutch often uses the verb combination laten zien 2 ('to let see.') There are a few other verbs like this in Dutch, like for instance laten vallen 2 ('to let fall' - 'to drop') and laten schrikken 2 ('to scare, to shock') - more laten - 2

laten zien		to show
ik laat zien		I am showing
wij laten zien		we are showing
ik liet zien		I was showing
wij lieten zien		we were showing
ik heb laten zien		I have shown

Hij liet ons een paar foto's zien 2 He showed us a few pictures

Ik heb moeten laten zien I had to show

When 'zien' as a working verb is combined with other verbs, those other verbs will be infinitives:

Ik zag de zon in de zee zinken (2) I saw the sun sink into the sea

Ik zag 't niet meer zitten (saying) ['I didn't see it sit anymore,' I didn't see things in place anymore] - I was depressed

Hij zag de bui al hangen 2 3 (saying) ['He had already seen the rainshower "hanging"'] - 'He understood trouble was brewing'

Ik zag je voorbijkomen 2 3 4 I saw you pass by

When 'zien' in the perfect tenses is combined with other verbs, it will not be in the form of the past participle 'gezien'   but the infinitive 'zien.'

Ik heb je voorbij zien komen 2 3 4 I've seen you pass by, I saw you pass by

Ik heb water zien branden 2 I've seen water burn (I've seen something that's impossible)

Ik heb al wat huizen zien vallen! I have already seen many [houses fall] companies fail! - Multatuli

Related Words

(het) oog - body parts

mijn ogen zijn bruin - de bruine ogen 2 my eyes are brown - the brown eyes

(het) zien	'seeing, the sense of sight'
(het) oog	eye
ogen	eyes
more oog  and ogen  below
blind 2	blind
verblind 2	blinded
(het) licht	(the) light
licht	light
(de) zon	sun >>
(de) lamp	lamp >>
(de) foto	picture, photograph
(de) film 2	movie, film
(het) schilderij 2	painting
Vermeer -	Rembrandt
(het) donker 2	(the) dark
donker 2	dark
duister 2	dark (mysterious, possibly shady)
(de) duisternis 2	darkness
(de) oogarts	eye doctor

oogverblindend 2 [eye-blinding] very bright

(het) zicht	visibility, 'viz'
(het) gezicht 2	1. view (of) 2. face
(het) uitzicht	1. view (from) 2. prospect
(het) inzicht	insight, understanding

Gezicht op Delft View [at] of Delft - a Vermeer painting Heb je haar gezicht gezien? 2 Have you seen her face?

technisch inzicht 2 3 4 [technical insight] - a good understanding of technology, how mechanical things work, how to handle tools

(het) vooruitzicht 2 prospect, outlook, future vooruitzichten prospects, reasonable expectations
'n prettig vooruitzicht 2 a nice prospect, ~a promising future event, something to look forward to Dit uitzichtsloze bestaan 2 3 This existence without prospects, hopeless existence, this life without a (good) future

(de) visie 2 view, outlook, opinion, vision
(het) perspectief 2 3 perspective

(het) visioen 2 vision, mental image
(de) illusie 2 3 illusion
(het) gezichtsbedrog optical [fraud] illusion
(de) luchtspiegeling Fata Morgana, mirage

(het) overzicht 2 overview, survey, outline
onoverzichtelijk 2 3 cluttered, badly organized
een compleet overzicht 2 3 a full survey overzien 2 1. [view in totality] to survey
2. to look over, to examine, to supervise Dan is de ellende niet te overzien 2 3 4 There'll be a lot of misery then ('there will be an amount of misery so large that it's impossible to see in its totality')

(de) ansichtkaart 2 picture postcard - a German word with Dutch pronunciation >>

'Zagen' 2 3 is also a verb meaning 'cutting wood with a saw.' So wij zagen can mean either 'we saw' or 'we are sawing, cutting wood'

ik zaag

Sayings and Idiom

Je kunt wel zien uit welke hoek de wind waait 2 ['You can see from which corner the wind is blowing'] 'You can see where that's coming from, what's behind it'

Iets over het hoofd zien 2 3 4 ['to see something past the head'] - a failure to notice something

Hij zag de bui al hangen [He had already seen the rainshower "hanging"] - 'He understood trouble was brewing'

Ik zag 't niet meer zitten ["I didn't see it 'sitting' anymore"] - I had no hope, I didn't see a future (I was very depressed)

Je kunt door de bomen 't bos niet zien 2 3 You can't see the forest (because of) for the trees (with too much attention to details you lose sight of the big picture)

Het oog is groter dan de maag 2 ['the eye is bigger than the stomach'] - said when you can't finish the food you put on your plate

Met het oog op morgen 2 'With an eye on tomorrow' - taking the future into? consideration

Onder vier ogen 2 ['Under four eyes'] 'In private, one-on-one conversation'

Uit het oog, uit het hart 2 3 4 ['out of eye, out of heart'] - 'out of sight, out of mind'

Ik heb het met eigen ogen gezien 2 3 ['I've seen it with my own eyes'] - I witnessed it myself, personally

Een oogje in het zeil houden 2 3 ['to keep an eye on the sail'] - monitoring an event, or keeping watch over a person, supervising from a distance Iemand die een oogje in het zeil houdt 2 Someone to watch over someone or something

uit het oog verliezen 2 ['lose from (eye) sight'] - (people or ideas) no longer in sight, lost from consideration De idealen werden uit het oog verloren ~The ideals were lost from sight, dropped along the way De idealen waren uit het oog verloren ~The ideals were lost from sight, dropped along the way

Hij keek z'n ogen uit 2 3 He really enjoyed seeing something unexpected

Beter langharig dan kortzichtig 2 Better long-haired than short-sighted

brillen - singular: (de) bril

(de) zonnebril

(de) verrekijker ['far-looker']

(de) leesbril

(het) vergrootglas - 2

(de) loep (from French 'loupe')

loep

To Look Like

eruitzien 2

't Ziet er vies uit 2 It looks unappetizing 't Ziet er slecht uit 2 It doesn't look good, it's not going to end well Hij ziet er moe uit He looks tired Je wilt er leuk uitzien 2 You want to look nice, cute, attractive

Ze ziet er uit als een filmster She looks like a movie star

Wat zie je d'r uit! 2 3 The way you look! You don't look good (dirty, untidy, unkempt) Je ziet er niet uit! 2 3 You look awful, you look a fright

'To look like,' meaning 'appear to be in a certain way,' 'giving an impression of' or 'noting a similarity, a resemblance' can also be said in Dutch as lijken - often as lijken op 2 3 - it's a strong verb:

lijken to look like

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leek looked like

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geleken looked like

lijken		~to look like
't lijkt		it looks like
ze lijken		they look like
't leek		it looked like
ze leken		they looked like
't heeft geleken		it (has) looked like
2

Behalve z'n neus lijkt-ie op z'n oma Except for his nose he looks like his grandma

't Lijkt of 't gaat regenen It looks like [it's going to] rain 't Lijkt mee te vallen 2 3 It looks like it won't be that bad

'Bijzonder' lijkt de enige uitzondering It looks like 'bijzonder' is the only exception
(the IJ in 'bijzonder' is pronounced as 'Dutch long I,' English EE)

Hij lijkt te winnen 2 3 [He looks like ...] It looks like he's winning Hij lijkt te gaan winnen 2 3 [He looks like ...] It looks like he's going to win Het lijkt erop dat hij gaat winnen 2 It looks like he's going to win

't Is niet zo erg als 't lijkt 2 3 It's not as bad as it looks

't Lijkt maar zo It only looks that way Misschien lijkt 't maar zo 2 3 4 Maybe it only looks that way Of lijkt dat maar zo? 2 3 Or does [that] it only look that way?

Lijkt 't je wat? 2 3 [Does it look like something to you?] - Are you interested in it?

Ik ben een beetje schor, lijkt 't wel It looks (sounds?) like I'm a little hoarse Ben een beetje schor, lijkt 't

't Lijkt nergens op 2 ['It looks like nothing'] - a bad job, something done badly

Dat lijkt me sterk 2 3 4 [That looks hard to believe to me] - That's hard to believe 't Lijkt me sterk dat ... 2 3 I find it hard to believe ..., It's hard to believe ... sterk verhaal 2 3 tall (hard to believe) tale

De minuutwijzer lijkt wel helemaal stil te staan 2 The minute hand seems to have stopped completely ->>

't Lijkt wel zomer It looks like Summer (but it isn't)

Ze lijkt wel een filmster 2 She looks somewhat like a movie star

Ze leken wel gek 2 [They looked like crazy] - It looked like they were crazy, they did something crazy

Ik lijk wel gek! 2 3 4 It looks like I'm crazy, I must be crazy (doing something strange)

Er lijkt weinig geld te zijn 2 It looks like there is little money

't Heeft er lang op geleken 2 3 For a long time it looked like ...

'Vergelijken' 2 is 'to compare.' It's a strong verb:

vergelijken to compare

-

vergeleek compared

-

vergeleken compared

2 3

Dutch (de) leek means 'layman' and English 'leek' is (de) prei in Dutch (from French 'poireau')

The Dutch verb 'schijnen' has a somewhat similar meaning of giving an impression, 'to look like, seem' but with a sense that it's uncertain, you can't be sure. It can also mean 'to shine,' emitting light like the sun - weather conversation

schijnen to shine

-

scheen shone

-

geschenen shone

2

schijnen		'seem'
't schijnt		it seems
ze schijnen		they seem
't scheen		it seemed
ze schenen		they seemed
2

(de) zonneschijn 2 3	sunshine
schijnbaar 2 3	apparently
waarschijnlijk 2	probably
onwaarschijnlijk 2	unlikely

schijnheilig 2 3 [seemingly holy] - pretending to be a good person

Achter de wolken schijnt de zon 2 Behind the clouds, the sun is shining (Look further and you'll see things aren't all bad)

Er schijnt iets gebeurd te zijn 2 3 4 It looks like something happened

't Schijnt niet waar te zijn 2 3 It seems not to be true, it looks like it's not true

The similar blijken (blijken / bleek / gebleken ) does not have a clear equivalent in English. It means something like being found different from a first impression. I usually translate it as 'to turn out.' Maybe you could also use 'come to light.'
blijkbaar 2 3 'obvious, evident, apparently'

blijken	blijken	~to turn out
het blijkt	't blijkt	it turns out
ze blijken	ze blijken	'they turn out'
het bleek	't bleek	it turned out
ze bleken	ze bleken	'they turned out'
het is gebleken	't is gebleken	it has turned out
2	2

't Is gebleken 2 It has turned out ... It has come to light ...

Ze bleken oplichters te zijn 2 [They turned out to be swindlers] - It turned out they were swindlers

Er blijkt genoeg geld te zijn 2 3 It turns out that there is enough money

Er blijkt toch genoeg geld te zijn 2 It turns out that there is enough money (after all)

Ik bleek longontsteking te hebben 2 3 [I turned out to have] It turned out that I had pneumonia

Bleken is also 'to bleach, whiten,' like in New York's 'Bleecker Street' ->> - it is a stretch, but wij bleken could mean 'we turned out (to be)' or 'we are bleaching.' A more common word is bleek 2 (bleek/bleke ) 'pale' - like in lijkbleek 2 3 ('pale as a dead body')
I'd also like to bring up the lookalike but unrelated blij ('glad, happy') and vrolijk ('cheerful, merry')

Ik ben blij dat te horen I'm glad to hear that, it makes me happy to hear that

Bent U blij met Uw fiets? 2 Are you happy with your bike?

Vrolijk Kerstfeest! 2 3 Merry Christmas!

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