Sehen: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in German
Introduction
Sehen means “to see”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in German — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for sehen, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with sehen, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the German first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.” — “I see a film this evening.”
- “Du siehst meine Freunde morgen.” — “You see my friends tomorrow.”
- “Ich habe das Meer von meinem Fenster gesehen.” — “I have seen the sea from my window.”
- “Er sah einen Film heute Abend.” — “He saw a film this evening.”
- “Wir werden meine Freunde morgen sehen.” — “We will see my friends tomorrow.”
- “Du hast das Meer von meinem Fenster gesehen.” — “You have seen the sea from my window.”
- “Ich sähe einen Film heute Abend.” — “I would see a film this evening.”
- “Er sehe meine Freunde morgen.” — “He sees my friends tomorrow.”
- “Wir hatten das Meer von meinem Fenster gesehen.” — “We had seen the sea from my window.”
- “Er wird einen Film heute Abend sehen.” — “He will see a film this evening.”
- “Sie sehen meine Freunde morgen.” — “They see my friends tomorrow.”
- “Sieh das Meer von meinem Fenster!” — “See the sea from my window!”
A short dialogue
Lena and Jonas are talking about a film this evening. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how sehen changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of sehen below is taken from the verified tables.
Lena: “Siehst du einen Film heute Abend?” — “You see a film this evening?” Jonas: “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.” — “I see a film this evening.” Lena: Und morgen? Jonas: “Ich werde meine Freunde morgen sehen.” — “I will see my friends tomorrow.” Lena: Und gestern? Jonas: “Ich habe das Meer von meinem Fenster gesehen.” — “I have seen the sea from my window.” Lena: Und eines Tages? Jonas: “Ich sähe einen Film heute Abend.” — “I would see a film this evening.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the Perfekt for yesterday, and Konjunktiv II for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Sehen in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of sehen that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, sehen describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The ich form is sehe: “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.” — “I see a film this evening.”
The preterite: the past as a finished event
In the preterite, sehen describes one finished action in the past, the way a story tells it. The er form is sah: “Er sah meine Freunde morgen.” — “He saw my friends tomorrow.”
The Perfekt: finished actions
In the Perfekt, sehen reports one finished action in everyday speech, built with haben plus the participle gesehen. The ich form is habe gesehen: “Ich habe das Meer von meinem Fenster gesehen.” — “I have seen the sea from my window.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, sehen talks about what will happen. The wir form is werden sehen: “Wir werden einen Film heute Abend sehen.” — “We will see a film this evening.”
Konjunktiv II: what would happen
In Konjunktiv II, sehen talks about what would happen. Konjunktiv II doubles as the German conditional — there is no separate conditional tense. The du form is sähest: “Du sähest meine Freunde morgen.” — “You would see my friends tomorrow.”
Konjunktiv I: reported speech
In reported speech, sehen appears in Konjunktiv I, reporting what someone else said. The er form is sehe: “Er sehe das Meer von meinem Fenster.” — “He sees the sea from my window.” Read it as a quotation — someone said this, and the sentence reports it.
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Ich sehen einen Film heute Abend.”
✓ Right: “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.”
The infinitive sehen never takes a subject. After ich you need the conjugated form sehe.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Du sehe einen Film heute Abend.”
✓ Right: “Du siehst einen Film heute Abend.”
sehe is the ich form. With du you need siehst. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend gestern.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Film heute Abend gesehen.”
The time word gestern points to the past, so a finished action needs the Perfekt habe gesehen, not the present.
Using the indicative in reported speech
✗ Wrong: “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.” (quoted as reported speech)
✓ Right: “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.” (quoted as reported speech)
In reported speech German uses Konjunktiv I: sehe, not the indicative sehe.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the Perfekt
✗ Wrong: “Ich gesehen einen Film heute Abend.”
✓ Right: “Ich habe einen Film heute Abend gesehen.”
The Perfekt of sehen needs the auxiliary haben plus the participle gesehen: the full ich form is habe gesehen.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on sehen. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the ich form of sehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) siehst
- B) sieht
- C) sehen
- D) sehe
What is the du form of sehen in the Present (Präsens)?
- A) siehst
- B) sehe
- C) sieht
- D) sehen
What is the er/sie/es form of sehen in the Perfect (Perfekt)?
- A) hat gesehen
- B) habe gesehen
- C) hast gesehen
- D) haben gesehen
What is the wir form of sehen in the Preterite (Präteritum)?
- A) saht
- B) sahen
- C) sah
- D) sahst
What is the du form of sehen in the Future (Futur I)?
- A) wirst sehen
- B) werde sehen
- C) wird sehen
- D) werden sehen
What is the ich form of sehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional)?
- A) sähe
- B) sähest
- C) sähen
- D) sähet
What is the er/sie/es form of sehen in the Konjunktiv I?
- A) sehest
- B) sehen
- C) sehet
- D) sehe
What is the ich form of sehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt)?
- A) hattest gesehen
- B) hatten gesehen
- C) hattet gesehen
- D) hatte gesehen
What is the past participle of sehen?
- A) gestanden
- B) gesehen
- C) genommen
- D) gefunden
What does sehen mean in English?
- A) to see
- B) to take
- C) to find
- D) to stand
Answer key
- D) sehe — the ich form of sehen in the Present (Präsens) is sehe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) siehst — the du form of sehen in the Present (Präsens) is siehst. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) hat gesehen — the er/sie/es form of sehen in the Perfect (Perfekt) is hat gesehen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) sahen — the wir form of sehen in the Preterite (Präteritum) is sahen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) wirst sehen — the du form of sehen in the Future (Futur I) is wirst sehen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) sähe — the ich form of sehen in the Konjunktiv II (conditional) is sähe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) sehe — the er/sie/es form of sehen in the Konjunktiv I is sehe. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) hatte gesehen — the ich form of sehen in the Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) is hatte gesehen. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) gesehen — the past participle of sehen is gesehen. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- A) to see — sehen means “to see” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does sehen mean in English?
sehen means “to see”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is sehen regular or irregular?
sehen is irregular in these tenses: present, preterite, past-participle, imperative. The present participle is sehend and the past participle is gesehen.
How do I practise sehen every day?
Say one sentence with sehen in the present, one in the Perfekt and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Ich sehe einen Film heute Abend.”, “Ich habe einen Film heute Abend gesehen.” and “Ich werde einen Film heute Abend sehen.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for sehen, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of sehen — every tense of sehen in one place.
- Sehen in the Perfekt tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Sehen examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Nehmen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Finden conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- Stehen conjugation — another everyday German verb.
- German irregular verbs — every common irregular German verb, grouped by pattern.
- German verbs — the full hub of German conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise sehen with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise sehen with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise sehen with the interactive tool.