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
sich täuschen
to be mistaken
To be wrong; to have a false perception, opinion, or assessment of something or someone.
EXAMPLE
Ich habe mich in ihm getäuscht; er ist doch nicht so freundlich, wie ich dachte.
I was mistaken about him; he isn't as friendly as I thought after all.
täuschen
to deceive
To create a false impression or have a misleading appearance. Often used impersonally.
EXAMPLE
Lass dich nicht vom ersten Eindruck täuschen, die Aufgabe ist sehr schwer.
Don't let the first impression deceive you; the task is very difficult.
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 versehen
to provide / to be mistaken
Sich versehen and sich täuschen can both express an incorrect assessment. Sich versehen is especially appropriate when someone unintentionally reads, counts, or states something incorrectly; sich täuschen focuses more on a misleading perception or false impression. For specific mistakes, sich versehen is usually more precise.
täuschen
Ich habe mich über seine freundliche Art getäuscht.
I misjudged him because of his friendly manner.
versehen
Ich habe mich bei der Telefonnummer versehen und eine falsche Zahl notiert.
I got the phone number wrong and wrote down an incorrect number.
In real life
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