see the forest for the trees

English

Alternative forms

• see the forest through the trees
• see the wood for the trees

Verb

see the forest for the trees

1. (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)

• 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)

See also

• gestalt
• gist