01
täuschen
to deceive
To deliberately mislead someone or present something false to them as true.
example
Der Verkäufer hat mich über den wahren Zustand des Autos getäuscht.
The seller deceived me about the true condition of the car.
täuschen
to deceive / to be mistaken
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Meanings
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Usage tips
Active vs. reflexive
The difference between 'jemanden täuschen' (to deceive someone) and 'sich täuschen' (to be mistaken) is important. The active form means to deliberately lie to another person. The reflexive form means that you yourself are wrong or mistaken.
EXAMPLE
Er hat seine Kunden bewusst getäuscht.
He deliberately deceived his customers.
Word family
The word family includes the noun 'die Täuschung' (deception; the act of deceiving) and the adjective 'täuschend' (deceptive/deceptively). A common expression is 'täuschend echt', which means that something looks like the original.
EXAMPLE
Die Fälschung des Gemäldes war täuschend echt.
The forgery of the painting was deceptively real.
Fixed preposition
When someone is mistaken, the reflexive form is often used with the preposition 'in' followed by the dative. You can be mistaken 'in einer Person' (about a person) or 'in einer Sache' (about a matter/thing).
EXAMPLE
Ich habe mich in seinem Charakter getäuscht.
I was mistaken about his character.
Impersonal use
When something creates a false impression, 'täuschen' (to deceive) is often used with an impersonal subject such as 'der Schein' (appearances) or 'der Eindruck' (the impression). A typical warning is 'Lass dich nicht täuschen!' (Don't be deceived!).
EXAMPLE
Der erste Eindruck täuscht oft.
The first impression is often deceptive.
Compare with
täuschen vs scheinen
to shine / seem
'scheinen' and 'täuschen' can both have to do with an impression that is not certainly true. 'scheinen' neutrally describes what impression something gives: it looks that way or seems that way. 'täuschen' is stronger here and means that this impression is false or misleading. Learners may confuse the words because both talk about outward impressions. In practice: with 'scheinen', you cautiously say how something appears; with 'täuschen', you say that the impression is not correct or is probably not correct.
täuschen
Der erste Eindruck täuscht manchmal, wenn man jemanden noch nicht gut kennt.
First impressions can be deceiving when you do not know someone well yet.
scheinen
Yusuf scheint heute in der Pause sehr müde zu sein.
Yusuf seems very tired during the break today.
In real life
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