"Ich sehe Menschen."
Translation:I see people.
60 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
I wrote "I am seeing people", and it was wrong, so how would you say "I am seeing people" in German? Thanks for your help!
This thread is a bit old – nevertheless: There are a few classes of English verbs that aren't to be used in the continuous. Verbs related to perception are such a case, so we don't say "I am hearing…", "I am tasting…", etc. The meaning can still be "continuous" even if the form isn't, which is also true of German's present tense. Thus, "ich sehe" is both "I see [right now]" and "I see [on a regular basis]", and "ich koche" is both "I am cooking [right now]" and "I cook [every day]".
That said, "I am seeing somebody" also has a colloquial meaning, namely "I am in an intimate relationship with somebody". So the phrase "I am seeing people" might lead others to think of you as being a bit polyamorous ;-)
Here are some more verbs that you probably won't see in the continuous: believe, doubt, feel, imagine, know, dislike, love, hate, prefer, realize, recognize, remember, see, suppose, think, understand, want, wish, appear, hear, look, see, seem, smell, sound, taste, agree, deny, astonish, disagree, impress, mean, please, promise, satisfy, surprise, belong, concern, consist, depend, fit, involve, lack, matter, need, owe, own, possess, weigh etc.
Hey, just wanted to say that even if the thread is a bit old and even if the one you are technically replying to doesn't read the explanation, it's still potentially helpful for future learners-like myself. So thanks a lot for the useful explanation!!
418
In colloquial American English many of these verbs may be used in the continuous to indicate a temporary condition. E.g., "I'm loving this weather" = I love this weather right now (although I might not have appreciated the same weather last week). "I'm not seeing it" = I do not see it right now (but I might see it if I keep looking).
I think "I am seeing people" should be correct as well. Usually, present tense in German has both present simple and present continuous as allowed translations in English.
This is a great example of combining Male and female to create the German word Menschen -People (Mens) Mad (chen) = Male+female. This helps me to remember the German word for people ( Menschen) Does this help anyone?
I heard Mädchen and not Menschen ... some else as well or am I just a bit of?
IMO, Mädchen sounds like maid (or made) chin and Menschen sounds like mention (or men shun).
I translated it as: I watch people. It was deemed incorrect. Why? When I put the cursor on "sehe", one of the translations that popped up was "watch"!
Ich beobachte Menschen is I watch people. Sometimes the clue words don't totally work.
"Ich beobatche Menschen" would mostly be used if you mean you watch as in study or monitor a group of people. For a more general use you can use "ich sehe Menschen an," which means that you are just looking at them.
To see something is not quite the same as to watch it or to have it as your point of focus.
Menschen is alway "people". Männer or Mann is men/man. Leute is people too
If you used the english alphabet you would pronounce it as zeh because "s's" in German are pronounced like a "z" and "h's" are almost always silent as far as I can tell. I would google it I'm still new to German myself
Initial s is pronounced like English z, but not terminal s. One says "zay-en" for sehen, but not "dahz" for das.
When should Sehn vs. Sehen be used. Does it have to do with the actual sentence or does it depend on whether you are saying they or formal or what? Thanks
What ending conjugation you use is dependent on if you are using I (Ich) he(er) or we(wir) to name a few.
So it's Sehe here because we used ich. If it was "wir Sehen Menchen" it would be Sehen because of the conjugation.
Ich KANN Menschen sehen.
That is the correct translation! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ why didn't anybody make a mention of that?!
And yes, that is legitimately Shamaylan.
If "sehe" also translates to watch can't this be also read as "I watch people" and if so how could you avoid sounding like a creep
sehen does not mean "watch" in general.
There is ich sehe fern which is "I watch television", but that's about it.
To watch (for a while, attentively, deliberately) is ansehen, anschauen, betrachten, in general.
Just sehen almost always just means "see".
Der Mench is 'The person' and it is one of the weak nouns that add an -en for direct object. How therefore do we know that the noun is plural here rather than singular with accusative ending?
Der Mench is 'The person' and it is one of the weak nouns that add an -en for direct object. How therefore do we know that the noun is plural here rather than singular with accusative ending?
Because Mensch is countable -- and as in English, countable nouns in the singular almost always need some kind of determiner in front of them, e.g. an indefinite article.
Like how you can't say "I see person." in English -- if it's singular, it would have to be "I see a person." or "I see the person." or "I see that person." etc.
I look?
No. You cannot "look people" in English.
ich sehe Menschen = I see people.