# see / understand



## Outsider

Does your language have this idiom?

Portuguese does. The progressive form of the verb is normally used, estou a ver or estou vendo (I'm seeing).

English obviously has the idiom "I see". What about other languages?

Thanks in advance.


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## linguist786

Not in *Urdu*, *Hindi *or *Gujarati*.


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## modus.irrealis

The "to know" word in some of the ancient Indo-European languages (Greek οἶδα, Sanskrit _veda_) as well as in the Germanic languages (German _wissen_), and probably many others I'm unaware of, are transparently related to the original word for "to see" and probably originally meant something like "I am in the state of seeing" or "I see".


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## tigger_uhuhu

Yes.
In Mexican Spanish "ya veo".
Cheers.


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## dn88

I'm afraid it doesn't work in *Polish* - we usually say "rozumiem", which literally means "I understand".


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## Trisia

*Romanian: *A bit more complicated 
We use "înţeleg" = I understand

But, in some contexts, also _I see_ ("văd")

Încep să văd (_I'm starting to see/understand_)
O, acum văd [ce vrei să spui]! (_Oh, now I see [what you mean]!_)
Acum văd totul clar. (_Now I fully comprehend it_)


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## Dr. Quizá

tigger_uhuhu said:


> Yes.
> In Mexican Spanish "ya veo".
> Cheers.



I think the same goes for all dialects.

"Ya veo" is "I _already_ see", though.


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## Outsider

Dr. Quizá said:


> "Ya veo" is "I _already_ see", though.


Or "Now I understand", more idiomatically. But that's alright. It counts, too.


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## Etcetera

It is so in Russian.

The phrase Я в*и*жу / Ya v*i*zhu, which means "I see", can be used in the meaning "I understand".


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## ukuca

Not In Turkish, I suppose we just use *anlamak (v) > anladım *(to understand > I understand ) except the slangs.


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## MarX

*Not in Indonesian.*


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## Hakro

*Not in Finnish*, except in some very special cases ("only now I see what was your idea...").

Instead, "minä näen" (I see) is sometimes used as "in my opinion" but you can only hear it from politicians and similar speakers.


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## irene.acler

Not in *Italian*.

I understand = I see --> "capisco" (the verb is "capire").


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## jaxlarus

modus.irrealis said:


> The "to know" word in some of the ancient Indo-European languages (Greek οἶδα, Sanskrit _veda_) as well as in the Germanic languages (German _wissen_), and probably many others I'm unaware of, are transparently related to the original word for "to see" and probably originally meant something like "I am in the state of seeing" or "I see".



Are you sure that βλέπω > είδα and οίδα are related to one another? They seem to be, but I always wondered about it.

Concerning I see / I understand in modern Greek:

They can't be used interchangeably.

I see - *βλέπω*

I understand - *καταλαβαίνω*


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## Nanon

French - "je vois".


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## modus.irrealis

jaxlarus said:


> Are you sure that βλέπω > είδα and οίδα are related to one another? They seem to be, but I always wondered about it.


Not βλέπω, but the other two are connected in every source I've read. εἶδον and οἶδα have the same relationship (in terms of ablaut) that ἔλιπον and λέλοιπα have. Basically εἶδον (stem ἰδ-) is the aorist and οἶδα is the perfect of the same root which was originally *weid-, and there's even a present tense εἴδομαι which matches the ablaut of λείπω. (The same root is seen in Latin _video_ 'to see').


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## Joannes

Not in Dutch, except maybe in some idiomatic expressions. We do have phrasal *inzien* 'see, understand' though.


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## VivaReggaeton88

Spanish: Ya veo / Lo veo ya : Now I see (understand).


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## Zahrah

Nanon said:


> French - "je vois".


 
Nanon,

Et "je comprends", c´est correcte aussi, non? Pour dire la même chose que I understand / (Eu) compreendo?

Bises,

Zahrah


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## noncasper

In Vietnamese:
I see/understand : Tôi thấy/hiểu rồi


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## Thomas1

dn88 said:


> I'm afraid it doesn't work in *Polish* - we usually say "rozumiem", which literally means "I understand".


It doesn't work in this case, and is not much used in this meaning, but there are some instances where you can use _widzieć_ (to see) in the sense to understand: 
_Ja widzę to tak_ (I see it this way).


Tom


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## jana.bo99

Croatian

A bit complicated:

I see -           Vidim

I understand - Razumijem.

Vidim i razumijem: could be good, but we don't use it.


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## tie-break

Zahrah said:


> Nanon,
> 
> Et "je comprends", c´est correcte aussi, non? Pour dire la même chose que I understand / (Eu) compreendo?
> 
> Bises,
> 
> Zahrah


 
Absolument !  
C'est correct aussi


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## Tjahzi

It does not work in Swedish.

However, the Swedish verb "to understand" has gotten a shorter, more colloquial form. (Which might be considered an alternative sollution to adopting "to see" as way to describe "understand.)


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## timesofmist

As in Scandinavian languages, are ''I see'' and ''I see'' in Estonian (of Finnish-Ugric origin) also two different phrases. One of them - ''ma näen'' applies only as an psychical activity - ''I look, therefore I see.'' For ''I understand'' there's a different form, ''ma mõistan.''
That's pretty much it.


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## Lugubert

Joannes said:


> Not in Dutch, except maybe in some idiomatic expressions. We do have phrasal *inzien* 'see, understand' though.


Dutch := Swedish, inzien := inse.
In case you aren't familiar with Algol, := means 'substitute the latter for the former'.


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## Nizo

In *Esperanto*, the correct way to say "I understand" is _mi komprenas_.  One may use the phrase _mi vidas_, which means "to see," in some circumstances, such as the phrase _mi ne vidas la signifon de tio_, "I don't see (understand) the meaning of that."


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## panjabigator

linguist786 said:


> Not in *Urdu*, *Hindi *or *Gujarati*.



Ditto for Panjabi.


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## Juri

When somebody explains something in *Italy*,
it's normal to replay _capisco _(I understand);
but also_ vedo,vedo_ ( I see ) is quite colloquial.


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## berndf

modus.irrealis said:


> The "to know" word in some of the ancient Indo-European languages (Greek οἶδα, Sanskrit _veda_) as well as in the Germanic languages (German _wissen_), and probably many others I'm unaware of, are transparently related to the original word for "to see" and probably originally meant something like "I am in the state of seeing" or "I see".


 
_Wissen _might be etymologically related to _videre _but _sehen_ (to see) is not. And the German word for _understand_ is not _wissen _but _verstehen_. At any rate the etymological relation between _wissen_ and _videre_ is not transparent to modern speakers.


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## yannalan

Zahrah said:


> Nanon,
> 
> Et "je comprends", c´est correcte aussi, non? Pour dire la même chose que I understand / (Eu) compreendo?
> 
> Bises,
> 
> Zahrah


Bonjour
Ce n'est pas tout à fait pareil. On peut comprendre quelque chose, mais "je vois" dasn ce sens est une réponse à une explication, pour dire qu'on a compris. Dans ce sens on peut dire aussi "je comprends"
Mias dans "je comprends le portugais", on ne peut pas remplacer par "je vois"
J'espère avori été clair, autrement dis-le moi
A plus.


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## Mahaodeh

In Arabic, I see can not be used for I understand, but it can be used for "it's my opinion" as it metaphorically means "I see with my mind".


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## bb3ca201

in Gaelic / anns a’ Ghàidhlig
If we use the verb “to see” - a’ faicinn - we are talking about something that we actually see.  If we want to say “I understand”, we have to say exactly that – tha mi a’ tuigsinn.


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## chriskardos

in Hungarian: 
I Understand - Értem.


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## Consimmer

MarX said:


> *Not in Indonesian.*


In Malay (Bahasa Indonesia's cousin), we would use the idiom "_Macam tu, ya?_". That phrase could be translated as "It's like that [now that you've shown it], yes?"


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## Quelle

berndf said:


> _Wissen _might be etymologically related to _videre _but _sehen_ (to see) is not. And the German word for _understand_ is not _wissen _but _verstehen_. At any rate the etymological relation between _wissen_ and _videre_ is not transparent to modern speakers.


 
Look here:
*Old High German:* wizzan* 
*Language:* ahd. 
*Grammar:* Pr„t.-Pr„s. 
*Translation (German):* wissen, kennen, verstehen, erfahren (V.), erkennen, begreifen, jemanden als jemanden erkennen, wissen von 
*Translation (English):* know, understand, recognize 
*Etymology:* germ. *weitan (1), *w–tan, Pr„t.-Pr„s., sehen, wissen 

And here:

Das Wort “Wissen” ist etymologisch eng verwandt mit “Sehen, Wahrnehmen” (ind. _veda _= Wissen, aber auch Geschautes, Offenbartes; lat. _videre _= sehen, wahrnehmen).
I try to translate: 
Etymologically the word „Wissen (=to know)” is closely allied with “Sehen (=to see), Wahrnehmen (=to perceive, to be aware of)” [Indian: veda= Wissen (=to know), but also “Geschautes, Offenbartes (looked, revealed); Latin: videre= to see, to be aware of/perceive)


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## Proudly

yannalan said:


> Bonjour
> Ce n'est pas tout à fait pareil. On peut comprendre quelque chose, mais "je vois" dasn ce sens est une réponse à une explication, pour dire qu'on a compris. Dans ce sens on peut dire aussi "je comprends"
> Mias dans "je comprends le portugais", on ne peut pas remplacer par "je vois"
> J'espère avori été clair, autrement dis-le moi
> A plus.


Ouais c'est pareil en anglais (et en russe mais on s'en fout), je crois que c'est exactement de ça qu'on parle ici.


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## Bienvenidos

Nope, they're not the same in Persian. But there are other expressions that mean "to understand." 

I understand is usually used in the past tense:  "Fâmidam"
You don't say "Mifâmam," that means something along the lines of "I know"


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## Maewa

In bulgarian "I see" can't be used as "I understand."
разбирам (razbiram) = I understand
виждам (vijdam) = I see
But I don't know, maybe in some situations people may use it. I think the meaning is closer to "I know."
You can use "I see" to tell that an example:
I see / know you don't trust me. - *Виждам* , че не ми вярваш.


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## knight_2004

In Arabic:
In MSA (Written Arabic), I see = Ara (أرى)
"Ara" literally means "I see [with my eyes]," but it is commonly used to say "My opinion is ..."

In spoken (Levantine) Arabic, "Shayef" (شايف)= "I see [with my eyes]," and it is commonly used to say 'I understand.'
"Shayef?" also means "Do you  understand?"

Levantine is an Arabic dialect (Eastern Arabic) spoken in Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.


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## cherine

knight_2004 said:


> In spoken Arabic "Shayef" (شايف)= "I see [with my eyes]," and it is commonly used to say "I understand.'


Spoken Arabic varies from a country to another, so please don't forget to say which country you have in mind when speaking about colloquial Arabic. 

This meaning of "shayef" is not true in Egypt, it only has the meanings of "I see" and "my opinion is".


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## knight_2004

Thank you for your note cherine.
I went back and edited my previous comment.


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## Mahaodeh

knight_2004 said:


> In spoken (Levantine) Arabic, "Shayef" (شايف)= "I see [with my eyes]," and it is commonly used to say 'I understand.'
> "Shayef?" also means "Do you understand?"


 
I have to disagree about this as well even in Levantine Arabic; although sometimes an experession like "shayef keef?" شايف كيف؟ may mean something like "do you see/understand how?" (even this is not exactly understand; it's much closer to see than understand), shayef does not mean _I understand_, rather it is more widely accepted as _I see_ and/or _my opinion is_. An example would be "ana shayef ino ni3mil kaza" أنا شايف انو نعمل كذا means: I see/It's my opinion/I think that we do so and so. Or, inta shoo shayef? إنت شو شايف؟ (what do you think?/what is your opinion?)


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## knight_2004

Mahaodeh said:


> I
> .... "shayef keef?" شايف كيف؟ may mean something like "do you see/understand how?" (even this is not exactly understand; it's much closer to see than understand), shayef does not mean _I understand_, rather it is more widely accepted as _I see_ and/or _my opinion is_. An example would be "ana shayef ino ni3mil kaza" أنا شايف انو نعمل كذا means: I see/It's my opinion/I think that we do so and so. Or, inta shoo shayef? إنت شو شايف؟ (what do you think?/what is your opinion?)



Well.. the Levantine Arabic is full of expressions:

Examples:
شايف عليّ ؟
شايف شلون ؟
Both examples do not mean "What's your opinion?" because the answer is usually "yes," "no," "shayef," or a head movement, etc. So, the speaker would continue talking; as if he says, "do you see so far?"
If it were an opinion rather than understand, then it would be a complete quetion.


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## knight_2004

cherine said:


> Spoken Arabic varies from a country to another, so please don't forget to say which country you have in mind when speaking about colloquial Arabic.
> 
> This meaning of "shayef" is not true in Egypt, it only has the meanings of "I see" and "my opinion is".




There is a song for Abdel-Halim Hafez. He says:
إنت شايف الحب كلة عيون وهمس ....
إلى أن يصل ليقول لكن أنا شايف أحلى كلام عشاق ....

I could be mistaken, and the words of the song may not be Egyptian originally, and the words may not be commonly used in Egypt (you can elaborate on that.)

My understanding of the words "Shayef" above (especially the 2nd one) is not "my opinion is" it is more like "my understanding" or that how I see love.

If the words of the song are not from Egyptian dialect, please disregard this post.


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## Encolpius

It doesn't work in *Czech *nor in *Hungarian*.


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## pitty_pittu

En español se usan como sinónimos
ya veo o
entiendo


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## mcibor

dn88 said:


> I'm afraid it doesn't work in *Polish* - we usually say "rozumiem", which literally means "I understand".





Hakro said:


> *Not in Finnish*, except in some very special cases ("only now I see what was your idea...").



I would say, that in Polish, as in Finnish we can say:

_Ach, teraz widzę o co ci chodzi_ - now I see what you mean.

But it's used only in special cases.


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## ThomasK

Joannes said:


> Not in Dutch, except maybe in some idiomatic expressions. We do have phrasal *inzien* 'see, understand' though.


 
I think 'Ik zie wat je bedoelt' implies that, but we do not simply use 'zien'in that meaning in general, although indeed inzien, overzien, etc. refer to seeing as part of understanding (as a matter of fact, see the thread I once started about that: light is one of the typical metaphors). See : http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=878087&highlight=verklaren.


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## Mahaodeh

knight_2004 said:


> There is a song for Abdel-Halim Hafez. He says:
> إنت شايف الحب كلة عيون وهمس ....
> إلى أن يصل ليقول لكن أنا شايف أحلى كلام عشاق ....
> 
> I could be mistaken, and the words of the song may not be Egyptian originally, and the words may not be commonly used in Egypt (you can elaborate on that.)
> 
> My understanding of the words "Shayef" above (especially the 2nd one) is not "my opinion is" it is more like "my understanding" or that how I see love.
> 
> If the words of the song are not from Egyptian dialect, please disregard this post.


 
Actually, I don't undestand the word shayif here as either my opinion is nor my understanding is; I understanding as simply "I see" - the translation would be: "I see the most beautiful lovers' speech/talk".


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## Mahaodeh

knight_2004 said:


> Well.. the Levantine Arabic is full of expressions:
> 
> Examples:
> شايف عليّ ؟
> شايف شلون ؟
> Both examples do not mean "What's your opinion?" because the answer is usually "yes," "no," "shayef," or a head movement, etc. So, the speaker would continue talking; as if he says, "do you see so far?"
> If it were an opinion rather than understand, then it would be a complete quetion.


 
I did mention this expression before (= شايف كيف) but although it's actually very much used, I think it's almost limited to such expressions.


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## ThomasK

Not in Dutch really, though my impression is that there is a calque of English coming up, allowing us to say : "Ik zie wat je bedoelt" (I see what you mean).


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## Roy776

It's also not possible in German. Here one would say *"Ich verstehe"* (more colloquially: *"Ich versteh' schon"*).
But one can, for example, say: *"I see what you're driving at."*, translated as: *"Ich sehe worauf du hinaus willst."
*In this case, too, one can (and mostly will) use *verstehen*, rather than *sehen*.


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## mataripis

It is not the case in Tagalog. I see is "Nakita ko" while I understand is " Naunawaan ko" or " Naintindihan ko" but sometimes we use " nakuha ko" meaning " I get/got  it"


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## darush

Not in Persian


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## ThomasK

By the way: Dutch *weten*/ German _wissen_/ English _wit (predecessor of 'to know', I believe) _have the same etymological root in PIE as *videre*, 'to see', in Latin.


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## arielipi

Hebrew have this in some way...
how could you not see what was coming?
you see how this works out?


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## 涼宮

It doesn't work in Japanese either. ''I see'' is translated as なるほど _naruhodo_. It's never used with kanji but its kanji are 成る程, the expression literally means something like ''to the extent of becoming''. There are other ways to say ''I see'' but they're rather used with the meaning of ''indeed/I agree'', and none of them uses the verb to see, 2 of them don't even use a verb.


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## Messquito

Doesn't work in Chinese either.
However, I suppose that these two are etymologically connected because 視(see, look at) and 識(understand), both used in ancient Chinese, are pronounced the same. (Just a wild guess, though)


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