Ansehen Conjugation in German
ansehen means “to look at” in English, and it is a verb German learners meet early and use often. This page gives you the complete conjugation of ansehen — every tense, every person, the participles and the infinitive — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.” — “I watch a film in the evening.” Learning the forms on this page first, before you try to use the verb in conversation, saves you from guessing later: German endings change with the person and the tense, and ansehen is no exception. Work through the tables one tense at a time, say each form aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: ansehen
- English: to look at
- Verb type: Strong separable verb
- Irregular in: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative
- Present participle (Partizip I): ansehend
- Past participle (Partizip II): angesehen
- Auxiliary: haben (all perfect tenses are formed with haben + the past participle)
- Separable prefix: an — the prefix splits off in finite forms (for example, sehe an) and takes ge- between prefix and stem in the past participle (angesehen).
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for ansehen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
ansehen is a strong verb with a vowel change in the present tense: the stem vowel changes from e → ie in the du and er/sie/es forms — siehst an, sieht an — while ich, wir, ihr and sie keep the plain stem. The preterite changes the stem again (sah an), and the past participle is angesehen.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for ansehen. Learn the present tense first, then the Perfekt and the Präteritum, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present (Präsens)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sehe an |
| du | siehst an |
| er/sie/es | sieht an |
| wir | sehen an |
| ihr | seht an |
| sie/Sie | sehen an |
Preterite (Präteritum)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sah an |
| du | sahst an |
| er/sie/es | sah an |
| wir | sahen an |
| ihr | saht an |
| sie/Sie | sahen an |
Perfect (Perfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | habe angesehen |
| du | hast angesehen |
| er/sie/es | hat angesehen |
| wir | haben angesehen |
| ihr | habt angesehen |
| sie/Sie | haben angesehen |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hatte angesehen |
| du | hattest angesehen |
| er/sie/es | hatte angesehen |
| wir | hatten angesehen |
| ihr | hattet angesehen |
| sie/Sie | hatten angesehen |
Future (Futur I)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde ansehen |
| du | wirst ansehen |
| er/sie/es | wird ansehen |
| wir | werden ansehen |
| ihr | werdet ansehen |
| sie/Sie | werden ansehen |
Future perfect (Futur II)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | werde angesehen haben |
| du | wirst angesehen haben |
| er/sie/es | wird angesehen haben |
| wir | werden angesehen haben |
| ihr | werdet angesehen haben |
| sie/Sie | werden angesehen haben |
Konjunktiv I
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sehe an |
| du | sehest an |
| er/sie/es | sehe an |
| wir | sehen an |
| ihr | sehet an |
| sie/Sie | sehen an |
Konjunktiv II
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | sähe an |
| du | sähest an |
| er/sie/es | sähe an |
| wir | sähen an |
| ihr | sähet an |
| sie/Sie | sähen an |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | hätte angesehen |
| du | hättest angesehen |
| er/sie/es | hätte angesehen |
| wir | hätten angesehen |
| ihr | hättet angesehen |
| sie/Sie | hätten angesehen |
Imperative (Imperativ)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| du | sieh an |
| wir | ansehen |
| ihr | seht an |
| sie/Sie | ansehen |
Participles and infinitive
| Form | German |
|---|---|
| Present participle (Partizip I) | ansehend |
| Past participle (Partizip II) | angesehen |
| Infinitive | ansehen |
When to use each tense
Present (Präsens)
The present tense is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With ansehen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.” — “I watch a film in the evening.”
Preterite (Präteritum)
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past, especially in writing and narration. With ansehen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Du sahst einen Film am Abend an.” — “You watched a film in the evening.”
Perfect (Perfekt)
The Perfekt is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken German. With ansehen it is formed with haben + the past participle angesehen. For example: “Er hat einen Film am Abend angesehen.” — “He has watched a film in the evening.”
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)
The Plusquamperfekt is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Wir hatten einen Film am Abend angesehen.” — “We had watched a film in the evening.”
Future (Futur I)
The Futur I is used for what will happen, predictions and promises. For example: “Ihr werdet einen Film am Abend ansehen.” — “You will watch a film in the evening.”
Future perfect (Futur II)
The Futur II is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Sie werden einen Film am Abend angesehen haben.” — “They will have watched a film in the evening.”
Konjunktiv I
The Konjunktiv I is used for reported speech and indirect quotation. For example: “Es ist wichtig, dass ich einen Film am Abend ansehe.” — “It is important that I watch a film in the evening.”
Konjunktiv II
The Konjunktiv II is used for wishes, polite requests and hypothetical situations — it also doubles as the conditional. There is no separate würde tense in the tables: the Konjunktiv II forms below do the work of the conditional, and würde + infinitive is the periphrastic alternative you will hear in speech. For example: “Du sähest einen Film am Abend an.” — “You would watch a film in the evening if you could.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Er hätte einen Film am Abend angesehen.” — “He would have watched a film in the evening if he had been able to.”
Imperative (Imperativ)
The imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. With ansehen this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Sieh einen Film am Abend an!” — “Watch a film in the evening!”
Participles and infinitive
The present participle is ansehend — “while watching” — used as an adjective or adverb. The past participle is angesehen, used with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe angesehen. The infinitive is ansehen.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with ansehen, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the German and try to produce it from the English.
- “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.” — “I watch a film in the evening.”
- “Du siehst einen Film am Abend an.” — “You watch a film in the evening.”
- “Er sah einen Film am Abend an.” — “He watched a film in the evening.”
- “Ich habe einen Film am Abend angesehen.” — “I have watched a film in the evening.”
- “Er hatte einen Film am Abend angesehen.” — “He had watched a film in the evening.”
- “Wir werden einen Film am Abend ansehen.” — “We will watch a film in the evening.”
- “Ich werde einen Film am Abend angesehen haben.” — “I will have watched a film in the evening.”
- “Es ist wichtig, dass ich einen Film am Abend ansehe.” — “It is important that I watch a film in the evening.”
- “Ich sähe einen Film am Abend an.” — “I would watch a film in the evening if I could.”
- “Sieh einen Film am Abend an!” — “Watch a film in the evening!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich ansehen einen Film am Abend.”
✓ Right: “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.”
The infinitive ansehen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated present form sehe an.
2. Confusing ansehen with fernsehen
✗ Wrong: “Ich fernsehen einen Film am Abend.” (using the wrong verb)
✓ Right: “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.”
ansehen means “to look at”; fernsehen means “to watch TV”. Keep the two verbs apart by their meaning, not by their sound.
3. Forgetting to split the separable prefix
✗ Wrong: “Ich ansehen einen Film am Abend.” (prefix left attached to the stem)
✓ Right: “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.”
ansehen is separable: in finite forms the prefix an goes to the end of the clause — sehe an — not next to the stem.
4. Using the indicative after a Konjunktiv I trigger
✗ Wrong: “Es ist wichtig, dass du einen Film am Abend ansiehst.”
✓ Right: “Es ist wichtig, dass du einen Film am Abend ansehest.”
After es ist wichtig, dass German needs Konjunktiv I, so use sehest an here, not the indicative siehst an.
5. Using the present for a finished past event
✗ Wrong: “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Film am Abend angesehen.”
Yesterday’s finished event needs the Perfekt (habe angesehen), not the present.
Quiz: test yourself
What is the ich form of ansehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) sehen an
- B) sieht an
- C) seht an
- D) sehe an
What is the er/sie/es form of ansehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) sehe an
- B) sieht an
- C) siehst an
- D) seht an
What is the ich form of ansehen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) sahst an
- B) sah an
- C) sahen an
- D) saht an
What is the ich form of ansehen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hast angesehen
- B) habe angesehen
- C) habt angesehen
- D) haben angesehen
What is the wir form of ansehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattet angesehen
- B) hattest angesehen
- C) hatte angesehen
- D) hatten angesehen
What is the du form of ansehen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) werden ansehen
- B) wird ansehen
- C) wirst ansehen
- D) werde ansehen
What is the ich form of ansehen in the Future perfect (Futur II)?
- A) werdet angesehen haben
- B) wirst angesehen haben
- C) wird angesehen haben
- D) werde angesehen haben
What is the ich form of ansehen in the Konjunktiv II?
- A) sähest an
- B) sähet an
- C) sähen an
- D) sähe an
What is the past participle of ansehen?
- A) sehe an
- B) sah an
- C) angesehen
- D) ansehend
What does ansehen mean in English?
- A) to come
- B) to do
- C) to look at
- D) to watch TV
Answer key
- D) sehe an — the ich form of ansehen in the present tense is sehe an.
- B) sieht an — the er/sie/es form of ansehen in the present tense is sieht an.
- B) sah an — the ich form of ansehen in the preterite is sah an.
- B) habe angesehen — the ich form of ansehen in the Perfekt is habe angesehen.
- D) hatten angesehen — the wir form of ansehen in the Plusquamperfekt is hatten angesehen.
- C) wirst ansehen — the du form of ansehen in the Futur I is wirst ansehen.
- D) werde angesehen haben — the ich form of ansehen in the Futur II is werde angesehen haben.
- D) sähe an — the ich form of ansehen in the Konjunktiv II is sähe an.
- C) angesehen — the past participle of ansehen is angesehen; perfect tenses use haben + angesehen.
- C) to look at — ansehen means “to look at” in English.
Frequently asked questions
What does ansehen mean in English?
ansehen means “to look at”. You use it in everyday situations like the examples on this page — for example, “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.” (“I watch a film in the evening.”). It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is ansehen regular or irregular?
ansehen is irregular, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is ansehend and the past participle is angesehen.
What are the participles of ansehen?
The present participle is ansehend and the past participle is angesehen — use it with haben for the perfect tenses, as in habe angesehen.
What is the difference between ansehen and fernsehen?
ansehen means “to look at”, while fernsehen means “to watch TV”. They are easy to mix up because they appear in similar situations, but their meanings are different. If you are unsure, check the full conjugation page for fernsehen and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I watch” in German?
Say “Ich sehe einen Film am Abend an.” — “I watch a film in the evening.” The ich form of the present is sehe an, and it is the form you will use most often.
How to learn ansehen
Start with the present tense: sehe an, siehst an, sieht an, sehen an, seht an, sehen an. Say them in order every day for a week, then add the Perfekt — habe angesehen — and the Präteritum — sah an. Next, learn the future (werde ansehen) and the Konjunktiv II (sähe an), which also does the work of the conditional. Finally, tackle Konjunktiv I (sehe an) and the imperative (sieh an). Write one sentence of your own in each tense, using the examples above as models, and check every form against the tables. When you can produce all six persons of the present without looking, move on to the quiz.
Related pages
- ansehen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and uses for this verb in the Perfekt tense.
- ansehen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- Einladen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Treffen conjugation — another German verb to practise with.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Verb Conjugator — practise ansehen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise ansehen with the interactive tool.
- Perfect Tenses Builder — practise the perfect tenses with the interactive tool.
- VerbFlow home — back to the start.