# (moeten) zien te komen



## Al-Indunisiy

I frequently meet this phrase. Can anyone help me as to what it means?

Regards,
Al-Indunisiy


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## Peterdg

It's not something that has a meaning on its own. We really need the context in which it appears to be able to give you a decent answer. We could start guessing in which context it could appear, but then we are just guessing and it might mean something completely different.


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## ThomasK

I don't think we need the context: *'moeten zien te' *will probably simply mean '(try to) manage to', literally, I suppose, something 'see [discover] ways to' [arrive at something]. 

_We moeten zien te voorkomen_: we ought to prevent [succeed in stopping X from]... I found millions of examples ;-) at en.bab.la (read them critically, not all of them are quite precise translations).  Google for ""zien te komen" and you'll find more examples from newspapers...


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## Al-Indunisiy

ThomasK said:


> I don't think we need the context: *'moeten zien te' *will probably simply mean '(try to) manage to', literally, I suppose, something 'see [discover] ways to' [arrive at something].
> 
> _We moeten zien te voorkomen_: we ought to prevent [succeed in stopping X from]... I found millions of examples ;-) at en.bab.la (read them critically, not all of them are quite precise translations).  Google for ""zien te komen" and you'll find more examples from newspapers...



So, can it be said 'zien' in this phrase is the Dutch equivalent of the German 'zusehen'? Can I safely conclude the phrase I asked means 'must manage to arrive/achieve/finish/establish'? Compared to these en.bab.la searches: http://nl.bab.la/woordenboek/nederlands-engels/moeten-zien-te-komen and http://en.bab.la/dictionary/dutch-english/zien-te-komen; does my conclusion hold water?

Howabout this clause that I tried to translate:
" terwijl de burgers (waaronder bijvoorbeeld: de ziener en het onschuldige meisje) er achter moeten zien te komen wie van de spelers de weerwolven zijn."
as 
​while the citizens (consisting of for example: the seer and the innocent girl) there after must make sure who among the players are the werewolves.​?


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## petoe

In this particular context, 'achter iets komen' means to find out something and 'zien' means to try: they have to try to find out who are the werewolves.


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## Al-Indunisiy

petoe said:


> In this particular context, 'achter iets komen' means to find out something and 'zien' means to try: they have to try to find out who are the werewolves.



Ah, so the 'achter' should be paired with the 'komen' to get the correct sense? Thank you.


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## Peterdg

You see that context is important


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## ThomasK

Al-Indunisiy said:


> So,
> (1) can it be said 'zien' in this phrase is the Dutch equivalent of the German 'zusehen'? Can I safely conclude the phrase I asked means 'must manage to arrive/achieve/finish/establish'? Compared to these en.bab.la searches: http://nl.bab.la/woordenboek/nederlands-engels/moeten-zien-te-komen and http://en.bab.la/dictionary/dutch-english/zien-te-komen; does my conclusion hold water?
> 
> (2) Howabout this clause that I tried to translate:
> " terwijl de burgers (waaronder bijvoorbeeld: de ziener en het onschuldige meisje) er achter moeten zien te komen wie van de spelers de weerwolven zijn."
> as
> ​while the citizens (consisting of for example: the seer and the innocent girl) there after must make sure who among the players are the werewolves.​?


Please make distinctions: 
- zien = to make sure
(- z_usehen i_n German: cannot see any link, zusehen is simply watch and check, I believe (at least no direct link !))
- erachter komen = to find out
- erachter zien te komen = to make sure they find out

Then en.bab.la examples are ok, but they're fairly free translations: 
 - must find out : OK, lit. must make sure we find out
 - we must have: Lit. we must see to it that we arrive at _[this 'zien te' implies efforts, which is not suggested by this translation]
_


> Wel moeten we erachter *zien* *te* *komen* of het programma hetzelfde blijft.
> 
> It remains to be seen, however, whether the programme will stay as before.



Again, very free translation: _we must (make sure that we) find out whether... 

_I would not say the context is that important, but the full form of the phrase is, and thus also the distinction: _achter iets komen + zien te  !
_


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## dawdaw

ThomasK said:


> Please make distinctions:
> I would not say the context is that important, but the full form of the phrase is, and thus also the distinction: _achter iets komen + zien te  !
> _



Indeed: 
achter iets komen: find something out 
+ zien te: manage to, make sure that.

This zien is frequently used in different contexts, not always followed by_ te_:
Ik moet zien dat ik genoeg werk:
I must make sure (that) I work enough.


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