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Verbs: Smartphone - List - Desktop - Shorts |
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Conjugation | |
'To See' and 'To Look' |
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Sample Sentences |
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Related Words | |
Sayings and Idiom |
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'to Look Like' |
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'zien'
'to see' is a strong verb
zien to see |
- | zag saw |
- | gezien seen |
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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 | |
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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 | |
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present perfect tense | |
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ik heb gezien
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I have seen |
auxiliary verb hebben | |
imperative | |
Zie!
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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
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 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!
Bij nader inzien
ik heb doen inzien ...
'Afzien'
aanzienlijk
For 'to show'
Dutch often uses the verb combination
laten zien
Hij liet ons een paar foto's zien
Ik heb moeten laten zien
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
Ik zag 't niet meer zitten
Hij zag de bui al hangen
Ik zag je voorbijkomen
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
Ik heb water zien branden
Ik heb al wat huizen zien vallen!
oogverblindend
Gezicht op Delft
technisch inzicht
(het) vooruitzicht
(de) visie
(het) visioen
(het) overzicht
(de) ansichtkaart
'Zagen'
Je kunt wel zien uit welke hoek de wind waait
Iets over het hoofd zien
Hij zag de bui al hangen
Ik zag 't niet meer zitten
Je kunt door de bomen 't bos niet zien
Het oog is groter dan de maag
Met het oog op morgen
Onder vier ogen
Uit het oog, uit het hart
Ik heb het met eigen ogen gezien
Een oogje in het zeil houden
uit het oog verliezen
Hij keek z'n ogen uit
Beter langharig dan kortzichtig
't Ziet er vies uit
Ze ziet er uit als een filmster
Wat zie je d'r uit!
'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
Behalve z'n neus lijkt-ie op z'n oma
't Lijkt of 't gaat regenen
'Bijzonder' lijkt de enige uitzondering
Hij lijkt te winnen
't Is niet zo erg als 't lijkt
't Lijkt maar zo
Lijkt 't je wat?
Ik ben een beetje schor,
lijkt 't wel
't Lijkt nergens op
Dat lijkt me sterk
De minuutwijzer lijkt wel
helemaal stil te staan
't Lijkt wel zomer
Ze lijkt wel een filmster
Ze leken wel gek
Ik lijk wel gek!
Er lijkt weinig geld te zijn
't Heeft er lang op geleken
'Vergelijken'
Dutch (de) leek
The Dutch verb 'schijnen'
schijnheilig
Achter de wolken
schijnt de zon
Er schijnt iets gebeurd te zijn
't Schijnt niet waar te zijn
The similar blijken
't Is gebleken
Ze bleken oplichters te zijn
Er blijkt genoeg geld te zijn
Er blijkt toch genoeg geld te
zijn
Ik bleek longontsteking te hebben
Bleken
Ik ben blij dat te horen
Bent U blij met Uw fiets?
Vrolijk Kerstfeest!
More Good Dutch Smartphone Pages
email -
Copyright © Marco Schuffelen 2016.
2
['Till seeing'] See you!
faux
'old' Dutch for: Doorzie de grond
2
['see through, look deep into] understand the soil'
['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
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
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
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
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
2
He showed us a few pictures
I had to show
(2)
I saw the sun sink into the sea
(saying)
['I didn't see it sit anymore,' I didn't see things in place anymore]
- I was depressed
2
3
(saying)
['He had already seen the rainshower "hanging"']
- 'He understood trouble was brewing'
2
3
4
I saw you pass by
2
3
4
I've seen you pass by, I saw you pass by
2
I've seen water burn (I've seen something that's
impossible)
I have already seen many [houses fall] companies fail!
- Multatuli
Related Words
(het) oog
- body parts
blauw / blauwe
mijn ogen zijn bruin - de bruine ogen
2
my eyes are brown - the brown eyes
blue
groen / groene
green
bruin / bruine
brown
(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
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
View [at] of Delft - a
Vermeer painting
Heb je haar gezicht gezien?
2
Have you seen her face?
2
3
4
[technical insight] - a good understanding of
technology, how mechanical things work, how to handle tools
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
2
view, outlook, opinion, vision
(het) perspectief
2
3
perspective
2
vision, mental image
(de) illusie
2
3
illusion
(het) gezichtsbedrog
optical [fraud] illusion
(de) luchtspiegeling
Fata Morgana, mirage
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')
2
picture postcard
- a German word with Dutch pronunciation
>>
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
Op het eerste gezicht
2
3
At first sight
2
['You can see from which corner the wind is blowing']
'You can see
where that's coming from, what's behind it'
2
3
4
['to see something past the head']
- a failure to notice something
[He had already seen the rainshower
"hanging"]
- 'He understood trouble was brewing'
["I didn't see it 'sitting' anymore"]
- I had no hope, I didn't see a future (I was very depressed)
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)
2
['the eye is bigger than the stomach']
- said when you can't
finish the food you put on your plate
2
'With an eye on tomorrow'
- taking the future into? consideration
2
['Under four eyes']
'In private, one-on-one conversation'
2
3
4
['out of eye, out of heart']
- 'out of sight, out of mind'
2
3
['I've seen it with my own eyes']
- I witnessed it myself,
personally
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
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
2
3
He really enjoyed seeing
something unexpected
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
To comment on an appearance, to say what something 'looks like'
Dutch uses the compound verb
eruitzien
2
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
She looks like a movie star
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
- often as lijken op
2
3
- it's a strong verb:
lijken
to look like-
leek
looked like-
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
Except for his nose
he looks like his grandma
It looks like [it's going to] rain
't Lijkt mee te vallen
2
3
It looks like it won't be that bad
It looks like 'bijzonder'
is the only exception
(the IJ in 'bijzonder' is pronounced as 'Dutch long I,'
English EE)
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
2
3
It's not as bad as it looks
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?
2
3
[Does it look like something to you?] - Are
you interested in it?
It looks (sounds?) like I'm a little hoarse
Ben een beetje schor,
lijkt 't
2
['It looks like nothing']
- a bad job, something done badly
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
2
The minute hand seems to have stopped
completely
->>
It looks like Summer (but it isn't)
2
She looks somewhat like a movie star
2
[They looked like crazy]
- It looked like they were crazy, they did something crazy
2
3
4
It looks like I'm crazy, I must be crazy
(doing something strange)
2
It looks like there is little money
2
3
For a long time it looked like ...
2
is 'to compare.' It's a
strong verb:
wij vergeleken
vergelijken
to compare-
vergeleek
compared-
vergeleken
compared
2
3
2
3
we compared
Vergeleken met Rusland ...
2
Compared to Russia ...
(de) vergelijking
comparison // equation (math)
‑>>
(het) vergelijkingsmateriaal
2
3
material for comparison, reference material
means 'layman' and English 'leek' is
(de) prei
in Dutch (from French 'poireau')
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
hoogstwaarschijnlijk
(de) zonneschijn
2
3
sunshine schijnbaar
2
3
apparently waarschijnlijk
2
probably onwaarschijnlijk
2
unlikely
2
very likely, most likely
waarschijnlijk niet
2
probably not
2
3
[seemingly holy] - pretending to be a good
person
2
Behind the clouds, the sun is shining
(Look further and you'll see things aren't all bad)
2
3
4
It looks like something happened
2
3
It seems not to be true,
it looks like it's not true
(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
2
It has turned out ...
It has come to light ...
2
[They turned out to be swindlers] - It turned out
they were swindlers
2
3
It turns out that there is enough money
2
It turns out that there is enough money
(after all)
2
3
[I turned out to have] It turned out that
I had pneumonia
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')
I'm glad to hear that,
it makes me happy to hear that
2
Are you happy with your bike?
2
3
Merry Christmas!
Zien
to see-
Horen
to hear-
Kijken
to look
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rewritten,
redistributed, or hotlinked to.
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