umsehen (sich) — German conjugation
to look around
Indicative
Present (Präsens) Irregular
Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.
Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | sehe mich um | I look around |
| du | siehst dich um | you look around |
| er/sie/es | sieht sich um | he/she/it looks around |
| wir | sehen uns um | we look around |
| ihr | seht euch um | you (pl.) look around |
| sie/Sie | sehen sich um | they look around |
Simple past (Präteritum) Irregular
Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.
Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | sah mich um | I looked around |
| du | sahst dich um | you looked around |
| er/sie/es | sah sich um | he/she/it looked around |
| wir | sahen uns um | we looked around |
| ihr | saht euch um | you (pl.) looked around |
| sie/Sie | sahen sich um | they looked around |
Present perfect (Perfekt) Irregular
The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.
Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | habe mich umgesehen | I have looked around |
| du | hast dich umgesehen | you have looked around |
| er/sie/es | hat sich umgesehen | he/she/it has looked around |
| wir | haben uns umgesehen | we have looked around |
| ihr | habt euch umgesehen | you (pl.) have looked around |
| sie/Sie | haben sich umgesehen | they have looked around |
Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Irregular
The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.
Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | hatte mich umgesehen | I had looked around |
| du | hattest dich umgesehen | you had looked around |
| er/sie/es | hatte sich umgesehen | he/she/it had looked around |
| wir | hatten uns umgesehen | we had looked around |
| ihr | hattet euch umgesehen | you (pl.) had looked around |
| sie/Sie | hatten sich umgesehen | they had looked around |
Future I (Futur I) Irregular
Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.
Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde mich umsehen | I will look around |
| du | wirst dich umsehen | you will look around |
| er/sie/es | wird sich umsehen | he/she/it will look around |
| wir | werden uns umsehen | we will look around |
| ihr | werdet euch umsehen | you (pl.) will look around |
| sie/Sie | werden sich umsehen | they will look around |
Future II (Futur II) Irregular
Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.
Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.
| Pronoun | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | werde mich umgesehen haben | I will have looked around |
| du | wirst dich umgesehen haben | you will have looked around |
| er/sie/es | wird sich umgesehen haben | he/she/it will have looked around |
| wir | werden uns umgesehen haben | we will have looked around |
| ihr | werdet euch umgesehen haben | you (pl.) will have looked around |
| sie/Sie | werden sich umgesehen haben | they will have looked around |
Subjunctive
Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Irregular
Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.
Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| ich | sähe mich um |
| du | sähest dich um |
| er/sie/es | sähe sich um |
| wir | sähen uns um |
| ihr | sähet euch um |
| sie/Sie | sähen sich um |
Other forms
Imperative (Imperativ) Irregular
The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.
Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.
| Pronoun | German |
|---|---|
| du | sieh dich um |
| ihr | seht euch um |