Alternative forms
Verb
see the forest for the trees
- (idiomatic) To discern an overall pattern from a mass of detail; to see the big picture, or the broader, more general situation.
- Smith is good at detail, but can't see the forest for the trees.
Usage notes
- As demonstrated by the example sentence above, it is used in negative constructions, often starting with can't or couldn't.
Translations
to discern overall pattern from details
- Danish: ikke se skoven for bare træer (da)
- Dutch: door de bomen het bos niet meer zien (nl)
- Finnish: nähdä metsä puilta (fi)
- French: voir la forêt pour les arbres (fr)
- German: den Wald vor lauter Bäumen nicht sehen (de)
- Greek: βλέπουμε το δένδρο και χάνουμε το δάσος (el) (vlépoume to déndro kai chánoume to dásos)
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- Mandarin: 見樹不見林 (cmn) (jiàn shù bú jiàn lín), 见树不见林 (cmn)
- Norwegian: ikke se skogen for bare trær (no)
- Portuguese: não deixar as árvores ver a floresta (pt)
- Russian: за деревьями леса не видеть (ru) (za derev’âmi lesa ne videt’)
- Serbian: od drveta ne videti šumu (sh)
- Spanish: no dejar los árboles ver el bosque (es)
- Swedish: inte se skogen för alla träd (sv) (only in the negative sense)
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See also