Breakdown of Wir schauen uns morgen die neue Ausstellung im Museum an.
Questions & Answers about Wir schauen uns morgen die neue Ausstellung im Museum an.
Because anschauen is a separable verb (German: trennbares Verb). In a normal main clause, the conjugated part goes in position 2 and the separable prefix goes to the end:
- Wir schauen … an.
If you put it together, that’s the infinitive: (sich) ansehen / anschauen.
uns is a reflexive pronoun meaning ourselves (here: “we’ll go and look at it / check it out”).
The verb is commonly used as sich etwas anschauen = “to look at something / to view something (carefully).”
So:
- Wir schauen uns … an = “We’re going to take a look at …”
Often, anschauen is used reflexively when it means “to have a look at something”:
- Ich schaue mir den Film an. (very common)
But it can also be non-reflexive in some contexts, especially in more literal “look at” uses: - Schau den Himmel an! (Also possible; sounds more like a direct command.)
In everyday speech, sich etwas anschauen is extremely common.
Because uns is functioning as a pronoun object, not as a subject or a possessive:
- wir = subject (we)
- uns = object (us / ourselves)
- unsere = possessive adjective (our)
Here, wir is already the subject: Wir schauen … an. The reflexive object must be uns.
It’s accusative because it’s the direct object (the thing being looked at).
Also, the pattern is:
- sich etwas (Akk.) anschauen
So die Ausstellung is accusative. Since it’s feminine, die looks the same in nominative and accusative, but the role in the sentence shows it’s the object.
Because in changes case depending on meaning:
- in + dative = location (where?) → im Museum (“in the museum”)
- in + accusative = direction/movement (where to?) → in das Museum (“into the museum”)
Here, the exhibition is located there, and you’re viewing it there, so it’s location → dative.
im is a contraction of in dem:
- in dem Museum → im Museum
This contraction is very common with in dem, an dem → am, etc.
German often uses the present tense to talk about the future when a time word makes it clear:
- morgen, nächste Woche, bald, etc.
So Wir schauen uns morgen … an is a natural way to say “We’re going to look at it tomorrow.”
It’s flexible, but there are common “neutral” patterns. Here, morgen is placed early, which is typical:
- Wir schauen uns morgen die neue Ausstellung im Museum an.
You can also emphasize morgen by putting it first: - Morgen schauen wir uns die neue Ausstellung im Museum an.
The key rules to keep: the conjugated verb stays in position 2, and an stays at the end in a main clause.
Because pronouns (like uns) typically come earlier than full noun phrases in the “middle field” of a German sentence.
Also, the standard reflexive structure is:
- Wir schauen uns [Akkusativ-Objekt] an.
Because the adjective ending depends on case, gender, and the article.
Here it’s:
- feminine noun: Ausstellung
- with definite article: die
- accusative feminine: die (same form as nominative feminine)
With die (definite article), you use weak endings, so it becomes: - die neu-e Ausstellung
They overlap, but style and region matter:
- sich etwas ansehen = very common, neutral (“to look at / view”)
- sich etwas anschauen = also common, slightly more informal in some areas
- sich etwas angucken = informal/colloquial (“check out”)
In many contexts, they’re interchangeable, but ansehen is often the safest “standard” choice in writing.