to judge / assess
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to assess
To form an opinion about the value, quality, or characteristics of someone or something; to give an assessment or judgment.
Als Außenstehender kann ich die Situation nur schwer beurteilen.
As an outsider, I can only assess the situation with difficulty.
'Beurteilen' (to judge/assess) is an inseparable verb because it has the prefix 'be-'. This prefix makes the verb 'urteilen' (to judge) transitive, so it always needs a direct accusative object.
Ich kann seine Fähigkeiten nicht beurteilen.
I can't assess his abilities.
The verb is often used in the construction 'etwas ist schwer/leicht/kaum zu beurteilen' (something is difficult/easy/hardly possible to assess). It describes how easy or difficult an assessment is.
Von außen ist die Lage nur schwer zu beurteilen.
From the outside, the situation is difficult to assess.
People often assess abstract things. Common objects are: 'die Situation beurteilen' (to assess the situation), 'die Lage beurteilen' (to assess the situation), 'die Qualität beurteilen' (to assess the quality), or 'jemandes Charakter beurteilen' (to judge someone's character).
Ein Experte soll die Qualität des Produkts beurteilen.
An expert is supposed to assess the quality of the product.
to look at / to watch
Ansehen als and beurteilen can both express how something is viewed or assessed. Ansehen als refers more to classifying something from a particular perspective, while beurteilen emphasizes the result of an evaluative examination more strongly. Ansehen als fits a preliminary classification; beurteilen fits a well-founded judgment.
Nach der Prüfung beurteilen wir den Vorschlag als gut.
After the assessment, we judge the proposal to be good.
Ich sehe den Vorschlag zunächst als gute Möglichkeit an.
For now, I regard the proposal as a good option.
