German Phrase
Was hast du in letzter Zeit so geschaut?
Meaning
Literally: ‘What have you been watching lately?’ It is an informal way to ask a friend which movies, series, or videos they have seen recently.
When to use
Use this sentence in casual conversation with peers, family members, or anyone you know well. It works well after a brief catch‑up or when you’re discussing entertainment habits.
✦Grammar Breakdown
WashastduinletzterZeitsogeschaut?
Interrogativpronomen (Was)
‘Was’ introduces a yes‑no or information question and occupies the first position in the clause.
Perfekt mit ‘haben’
The perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary ‘haben’ (hast) in second position and the past participle (geschaut) at the end.
Temporalphrase ‘in letzter Zeit’
‘in letzter Zeit’ means ‘lately’ and is placed after the subject for natural flow.
Füllwort ‘so’
‘so’ is a colloquial filler that softens the question, similar to ‘just’ or ‘anyhow’ in English.
Verb‑Zweit‑Stellung
In main clauses German follows V2 word order: the first element (here ‘Was’) is followed by the finite verb ‘hast’.
🗨In Conversation
Was hast du in letzter Zeit so geschaut?
What have you been watching lately?
Ich habe die neue Staffel von ‚Dark‘ geschaut und ein paar Dokumentationen auf Netflix.
I’ve watched the new season of ‘Dark’ and a few documentaries on Netflix.
✕Common Mistakes
Was hast du in letzter Zeit so gesehen?
‘gesehen’ is used with ‘sein’ for motion verbs; for watching TV you need ‘geschaut’ (Perfekt of ‘schauen’).
Was du hast in letzter Zeit so geschaut?
In a question the finite verb must stay in second position after the interrogative word.
Was hast du in letzte Zeit so geschaut?
The correct phrase is ‘letzter Zeit’ (genitive) not ‘letzte Zeit’ (nominative).
↔Alternatives
Was hast du in letzter Zeit geguckt?
What have you been watching lately?
Was hast du kürzlich geschaut?
What have you watched recently?
Was hast du neulich gesehen?
What have you seen recently?
Cultural Tip
In everyday German ‘schauen’ and its colloquial counterpart ‘gucken’ are both used for TV, movies, YouTube videos, etc. ‘Schauen’ sounds a bit more neutral, while ‘gucken’ feels more informal. When talking about streaming platforms, you can also say ‘Ich habe auf Netflix geschaut.’