Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "to see" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

видеть

Meaning: to see

Pronunciation: [VEE-dyeht']

Part of speech: verb (imperfective aspect)

Rank: #94 (see frequency list)

Example sentences:

Я ви́жу пти́цу.
I see a bird.
Я ничего́ не ви́жу.
I can't see anything.
Рад вас сно́ва ви́деть.
I'm glad to see you again. (polite or plural)
Что ты ви́дишь?
What do you see? (familiar)
Я ча́сто ви́жу его́ в па́рке.
I often see him in the park.
Они́ ви́дят, что ты бои́шься.
They see that you are afraid.
Не ви́жу смы́сла говори́ть об э́том.
I don't see any meaning to talk about this.
Он ви́дел интере́сный сон.
He had an interesting dream. (lit: He saw an interesting dream)
Рад вас ви́деть.
(I'm) glad to see you.
Мы ви́дели друг дру́га, но не поздоро́вались.
We saw each other but didn't say hi.

Idioms and set expressions:

Это на́до ви́деть! = It's worth seeing!
То́лько его́ и ви́дели. = He was gone in a flash.
видеть (его) насквозь = to see through (him)
видишь ли = you see (informal)
видите ли = you see (formal)
видеть сон = to have a dream
не видеть леса за деревьями = not to see the wood for the trees
видеть различие = to distinguish; to see the difference
видеть насквозь кого-либо = to see through smb.
Где это видано? = Who ever heard of such a thing?
Только его и видели. = And off he went.

Related words:

вид = view, appearance, kind, sort
увидеть = to see (perfective aspect)
ви́дение = vision, sight
видимый = visible, obvious
по-видимому = apparently, evidently
ввиду = in view of, because of, as
замечать = to notice
считать = to consider, think
видеться = to see each other
невидимка = an invisible man

Proverbs and sayings:

Видит око, да зуб неймёт.
Eyes watch but cannot take. (So near and yet so far.)
Бог правду видит.
There is One that is always on the lookout.
literal God sees the truth.
Бог правду видит, да не скоро скажет.
The mills of God grind slowly.
literal God sees the truth, but won't tell soon.
В чужом глазу соломинку ты видишь, в своем не замечаешь и бревна.
Not to see a beam in one's eye.
Видно птицу по полёту.
A bird may be known by its flight.
Видно мастера по работе.
The work shows the workman.
Всяк глядит, да не всяк видит.
Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.
Лучше один раз увидеть, чем сто раз услышать.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Не видеть дальше своего носа.
To see no further than one's nose.
Ни зги не видно.
Black as hell.
Поживём -- увидим.
Time will show. (We shall see what we shall see.)
Смотрит в книгу, а видит фигу.
Not to read is a shame, to read but don't understand is a disgrace too.

Verb conjugation:

Present Tense

I	ви́жу
you (singular)	ви́дишь
he, she, it	ви́дит
we	ви́дим
you (plural)	ви́дите
they	ви́дят

Past Tense

I, you (singular), he	ви́дел
she	ви́дела
it	ви́дело
we, you (plural), they	ви́дели

Future Simple Tense

The imperfective verb видеть is not used in the Future Simple Tense. Use the perfective verb увидеть instead.

Future Compound Tense

I	буду ви́деть
you (singular)	будешь ви́деть
he, she, it	будет ви́деть
we	будем ви́деть
you (plural)	будете ви́деть
they	будут ви́деть

Imperative Mood (Command Form)

you (singular)	ви́дь
you (plural)	ви́дьте

View full conjugation table for the verb pair видеть/увидеть

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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