wegsehen
To look away in German is to wegsehen.
The verb wegsehen is used to describe the action of turning one's gaze away from someone or something.
Which one should you use?
While wegsehen is the standard verb, you might use den Blick abwenden to more formally express the specific act of turning one's gaze away. If you are telling someone to look away, you can use the imperative forms like Schau weg or Schauen Sie weg depending on the social context. Additionally, Dreh dich weg is a related phrase specifically meaning to turn away.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Southern Germany, you may hear the colloquial expression Schau wech used instead of Schau weg.
How does it change in a sentence?
wegsehen is a separable verb. This means that in a simple main clause, the prefix weg- moves to the end of the sentence. For example, in the present tense, you would say ich sehe weg. The past participle of the verb is weggesehen.
Did you know?
- The imperative Schau weg is common in German horror films and thrillers, often acting as a suspense builder to warn a character of something terrible on screen.
- In German, the action of looking away to ignore a social injustice can be turned into a noun, das Wegsehen, which functions as a formal term for 'willful blindness'.
- The word sehen in wegsehen shares an ancient root with the English word 'sight', making the two languages distant cousins in this specific phrase.
Examples in context
- Ich kann nicht wegsehen.I can't look away.This sentence is useful for expressing the inability to look away using wegsehen.Tatoeba #8631680 by Melang, translation #7114253 by CM
- Bitte schauen Sie weg, während ich meinen Ausweis vorzeige.Please look away while I present my ID.
- Kannst du mal wegsehen? Das ist mir etwas unangenehm.Can you look away for a moment? It's a bit embarrassing for me.
- Er wollte einfach nicht wegsehen.He simply did not want to look away.
- Du darfst beim Film nicht wegsehen!You must not look away during the movie!
Example conversation
Lukas and Laura are watching a scary movie.
- LukasLukas, schau nicht weg!Lukas, don't look away!
- LauraIch will wegsehen, es ist gruselig.I want to look away, it is creepy.
- LukasDas Ende ist das Beste.The ending is the best part.
- LauraNa gut, ich schaue jetzt hin.Alright, I'll look now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry wegsehen, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries wegsehen, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
