Schön, dich zu sehen
/ʃøːn dɪç t͡sə ˈzeː.ən/word by word
To say nice to see you in German, say Schön, dich zu sehen.
Schön, dich zu sehen is a friendly greeting when you meet someone you know, such as a friend or relative.
What does it mean word for word?
Schön means nice or beautiful, dich means you, zu means to and sehen means see.
Which one should you use?
dich is the informal you, used with friends, family and children. With people you address formally, German uses the polite word for you instead.
How do you pronounce it?
Schön, dich zu sehen is said /ʃøːn dɪç tsə ˈzeː.ən/. The sch is like English sh, the ö is said like the e in bed with rounded lips, the z in zu sounds like ts and the s in sehen sounds like an English z.
Did you know?
- In Germany, the phrase Schön, dich zu sehen is often accompanied by a brief, light hug or a cheek kiss, though this depends on the closeness of the friendship.
- The word schön descends from the Proto-Germanic word *skauniz, which is an ancient relative of the English word 'sheen'.
- If you meet someone you have not seen in a very long time, Germans might say Schön, dich wiederzusehen, adding the prefix wieder to signify 'again'.
Examples in context
- Schön, dich zu sehen!Nice to see you.Schön, dich zu sehen! is the everyday greeting to a friend you are glad to meet.Tatoeba #366766 by cburgmer, translation #32688 by CK
- Es ist schön, dich zu sehen.It is nice to see you.
- Es war wirklich schön, dich zu sehen.It was really nice to see you.
Example conversation
Felix and Laura meet at a cafe.
- FelixHallo Laura! Schön, dich zu sehen.Hello Laura! Nice to see you.
- LauraHallo Felix! Freut mich auch sehr.Hello Felix! I am very happy to see you too.
- FelixWie geht es dir heute?How are you today?
- LauraMir geht es gut, danke.I am doing well, thanks.
