Hello everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day. And today, we’ll take a look at the meaning of
gelingen
Gelingen is one of those weird words many of you have probably missed for some reason, even though it is quite useful and common.
And it’s one of those verbs that have ge- as an actual non-separable prefix, not just a past marker.
And if you’re now like
“We DO NOT know what you’re talking about, Emanuel, this is advanced stuff….”
let me tell you that you, all of you, know at least one other example for these kinds of verbs… gefallen :).
The two actually kind of fit together, both grammatically and thematically… something that mir gelingen will probably dir gefallen.
But I’m getting ahead of myself …
The origin is the allegedly ancient Indo-European root *legu̯h-. This root expressed the idea of light in weight and it’s not only the origin of light and the German leicht, but of the name for the lung (die Lunge), which literally meant something like the light one.
Now, many of you probably know that German leicht is not only the word for light in weight, but also for easy (light in required effort).
And that’s the key to the meaning of gelingen. Back over a thousand years ago, there was a verb lingen, which basically expressed the idea of “can be done easily”.
Back then, the ge-prefix was still a regular prefix like be- or ver- and the idea it expressed was that of completion. I’ll talk more about that in the book on German prefixes that I’ve been about to finish for years now. This book definitely can’t be done easily :).
But yeah, so while lingen itself was more about an easy process, the prefix version gelingen was focused on the result.
Now, anyone who has a team, or contractors, or kids, or a partner or flatmates will know that, just because something is easy to do that doesn’t mean that it’ll be done well.
But there’s at least a loose correlation, and so it makes sense that the result focused gelingen soon shifted toward the meaning to turn out well, be a success. And while its prefix-less brother lingen completely disappeared, gelingen is still in use and basically hasn’t changed the meaning at all.
- Mit diesen Hacks gelingt die Zwiebelsuppe immer.
- With these hacks, onion soup always turns out a success/succeeds.
- Man kann nicht erwarten, dass alles auf Anhieb gelingt.
- You can’t expect, that everything turns out a success/works at the first try.
- Nach zähen Verhandlungen ist es gelungen, einen Putzplan zu erstellen.
- After tough negotiations drawing up a cleaning schedule wound up a success.
Few things to note here. First up… the pun in the first example. Hacks… onions… it’s hilarious.
Then, in the second example, we can see that the spoken past of gelingen is formed with sein and gelungen.
And then, in neither of these examples do we have the people (who are) actually doing the stuff.
If we want to include them actually doing the stuff, we make them the indirect object with the Dative case.
- Mit diesen Hacks gelingt mir Zwiebelsuppe immer.
- With these hacks, the onion soup turns out a success to me.
- Nach zähen Verhandlungen ist es uns gelungen, einen Putzplan zu erstellen.
- After tough/dragging negotiations, we succeeded a cleaning schedule.
Note the role flip? Instead of saying “I succeed at something”, in German you kind of say “something succeeds to me”.
I am making an onion soup, the onion soup “succeeds” to me.
We are negotiating a cleaning schedule, the cleaning schedule “succeeds” to us.
So yeah, gelingen can be a translation for to succeed BUT… it is the PROJECT that does the gelingen, not the person doing the project.
Let’s look at a few more examples, so you can get a feel for it…
- Ich versuche seit Monaten, ein Six-Pack zu bekommen, aber es gelingt mir einfach nicht.
- I have been trying for month to get a six pack, but I just don’t succeed/can’t get there.
“Lit.: … it doesn’t become a success to me.”
- Maria ist gelungen, was Thomas seit Jahren vergeblich versucht.
- Maria successfully did what Thomas has been trying unsuccessfully for years.
Lit.: To Maria turned out a success, what Thomas…. ”
(here, we only know from context what case Maria is)
- Fast wäre es Thomas gelungen, Maria zum Karaoke zu überreden.
- Thomas almost succeeded at talking Maria into singing Karaoke.
(Lit.: it almost would have been a success to Thomas…)
- Wie es der Einhornherde gelungen ist, jahrelang unbemerkt im Stadtpark zu leben, ist nicht klar.
- How the unicorn-pack managed (“succeeded at the task of living…” ) to live in the city park for years without being noticed is unclear.
Now, if you’re now wondering if that isn’t really similar to schaffen, then you can give yourself a pat on the back… because you’re spot on. Schaffen is kind of the mirror version of gelingen…
- something “gelingt” to me
- I “schaffe” something
In fact, we could rewrite all the examples we just had with schaffen and the message wouldn’t change.
Here’s a back to back comparison of two of them…
- …, aber er schafft es einfach nicht.
- …, aber es gelingt ihm einfach nicht.
- Maria hat geschafft, was Thomas….
- Maria ist gelungen, was Thomas….
If you want, you can try the other two. But beware… dig too deep and you might wake up something you’d rather have dormant. A question. A question about… es. Dun dunn dunnnnn!!
Anyway… in daily life, for the everyday challenges, schaffen is definitely more common. Gelingen is nice if you want to use more “refined” language. But it’s worth giving it a try every now and then, because it’s more common than you think.
Cool.
Now of course, let’s give the related words a quick mention. First up, we have the ge-form gelungen, which can be used as a slightly posh sounding adjective for well made/good.
- Ohne die letzten 2 Minuten wäre es ein gelungenes Date gewesen.
- Without the last two minutes it would have been a good/successful date.
(successful NOT in the sense of … well… THAT sense)
Then, there’s the noun das Gelingen, which is the success, in the sense of successfully doing something.
- Prost, auf gutes Gelingen!
- Cheers, to success!
(could be a toast for the kick off for a project at work, NOT after doing it)
But the one that’s REALLY useful is the verb misslingen. The grammar and phrasing is the exact same as for gelingen, and I think you can guess what this means… to turn out a failure.
- “Der Pizzaboden ist mir ein bisschen misslungen.”
“Ein bisschen?! Der ist so dick wie mein Kochbuch.” - “The pizza base is kind of a fail (to me).”
“A little?! It is as thick as a cook book.”
- Statistik-Witze – misslingen 11 von 10 mal.
- Statistic jokes – they fail eleven times out of 10.
And that’s it for t… oh, hold on… I see we have a call…. Chia-Jung, from Taiwan, welcome to the show.
“Hi Emanuel, I have a quick question… I hope I’m not too late.”
No, no, don’t worry, go ahead.
“So, could you tell us the preterit of gelingen with an example? I use that for my flashcards.”
Oh… of course, I’m sorry I forgot. It’s gelang….
- Wem der erste Motorflug gelang ist umstritten.
- Who successfully did the first motorized flight is subject of debate/disputed.
Lit.: “To whom the first motorized flight turned out a success… “
“Uh… wait… gelang or gelangen, I feel like I’ve seen both. “
Haha…yeah, gelangen is also a thing. But that is a separate verb. It’s about the notion of getting somewhere, reaching a location.
“Ohhhhh… is that like longing combined with the notion of completion that ge- used to have.”
Uh… yeah, you’re spot on!! I couldn’t have explained it better.
“I know. I know a lot about you, Emanuel.”
Wait… this voice… Cuddle-Fur the Third, is that you?
“Yes. And I’m coming for you, Emanuel. You left me in the woods to die, just because I am a talking cat. Now I’m back to take my revenge. I’ll take over your show, then your girl and then your life… *hangs up”
That’ll never gelingen to you, you demon. Do you hear me? Never.
Ugh… this cat. So spiteful.
Anyways, that’s it for today folks. This was our look at the word gelingen and even though the ending was a bit misslungen, I hope you had fun and learned a bit.
As usual, if you want to check how much you remember, you can take the little quiz we have prepared for you.
And of course, if you have any questions or suggestions just leave me a comment.
I hope you liked it and see you next time.
further reading:
Word of the Day – “folgen” 2 (erfolgen)
Word of the Day – “schaffen”
** vocab**
gelingen = to turn out well, be a success
mir gelingen = to succeed at something
gelungen (adj) = well made/good
Prost, auf gutes Gelingen! = Cheers, to success!
misslingen = to turn out a failure
Hello,
Words that aren’t gelungen:
flatmates is just one word
“in neither of these examples, we have the people actually doing the stuff” – sounds clunky! – “in neither of these examples do we have the people (who are) actually doing the stuff” – Me being picky? Yep! Me not wanting to miss the opportunity to show you an example where English is using an inversion, thus pulling a German on you? Also correct!
“it is what the PROJECT does the gelingen” (it the PROJECT that does the gelingen)
Thanks for another WotD; this time I have no questions!
Bis bald!
Oh, I forgot I have a question:
Could you explain to me why “Maria ist gelungen, was Thomas seit Jahren vergeblich versucht” is not “Es ist Maria gelungen, was Thomas seit Jahren vergeblich versucht”, since we now have the person (Maria), instead of just the object?
Cheers
Wait, Maria didn’t change regardless of whether “es” is there or not. It’s the object in either version.
The “es” in your example is NOT the subject, mind you. It is a dummy-es with the only purpose of filling position one. The subject is the free relative clause “was….”.
Hope that helps :)
Got it, thanks!
Danke schön. Das Thema war sehr nett.
Freut mich, vielen Dank :)
Vielleicht ist es der Einhornherde gelungen, unsichtbar zu werden?
I think I would struggle to recall this in conversation as schaffen is easier but really interesting.
But your example is flawless. Homework: write down for one week what the unicorn horde has accomplished that day, using gelingen. Like
“Heute ist … ”
Then, it should be in your mind forever :D
A unicorn herd blending unnoticed into a city park is a very original idea! :)
Doh.. even though I know the noun, I chose the wrong answer for that question! I don’t remember you mentioning the noun form?
Great post..an Interesting verb.
Ich musse zugeben, dass es mir nie vorher gelungen ist, ‘gelungen’ zu benutzen.. Ich have immer ‘schaffen’ benutzt, well es leichter ist!
Thankyou all for helping me get the membership. And special thanks to germaniseasy team for making it possible.
Check these sentence please
Wir müssen einen Weg finden,uns ein Jahr zu gelingen
I thought about phrasing it that way, although it does carry the same meaning ” Dieses jahr wird zu einem Erflog (zu) machen” I seen that construction being used before,although I have no idea when I have to use the second zu to complete “zu + infinitive constructions” Now, I will attempt a Schaffen –> “Wir schaffen diese Jahr,doch zuerst mussen wir einen weg finden”
Another sentence
Dieses Übung gelingt/misslungt mir
Ich schaffe dieses Übung
Eine gelungene Karriere hängt Mich ab
Also, what is purpose of “es” in the “aber es”?
I remember verbs where Ich (verb) es, ….
Es is just there for no reason. I remember seeing one of those on here,but cannot remember exactly what. If I remember, I will mention it in that thread
Now, for suggestions for future episodes
I cannot grasp these verbs/words and I think some others might be in the same postions
zusetzen
hinhören
Words like “jedoch,doch”. While they aren’t hard to use. They are used unnaturally. For example, I was told Jedoch doesn’t usually start a sentence.
That’s quite a few questions at once ;).
So here we go:
1) the sentence
“Wir müssen einen Weg finden,uns ein Jahr zu gelingen”
“Dieses jahr wird zu einem Erflog (zu) machen”
These two makes little sense to me and the grammar is really weird. What were you trying to say?
“Wir schaffen diese Jahr,doch zuerst mussen wir einen weg finden”
This does make sense. It sounds like the year will be tough but we can make it if we can find a way to do whatever.
2) other sentences
The first two are okay. The one about career would be “Eine gelungene Karriere hängt von mir ab.”
3) “aber es”… can you give me the sentence this bit is from? Without context I can’t tell what “es” is doing.
4) thanks for the suggestions! Could you tell me what it is that’s confusing you about the two? They’re kind of rare, anyway
5) I do have a post about “doch”. As for “jedoch” not starting a sentence… it certainly can start a sentence and it’s also not weird to do it but “jedoch” is kind of rare in spoken German.
Hope that helps :)
0) Thank you and sorry for the Flood
1) I was trying to say this year will turn out Successful. Using
a) gelingen
b)etwats (Akk) zu einem Erflog (zu) machen.
The second zu is used in (zu + infinitive)
Link: https://www.linguee.com/german-english/translation/zu+einem+erfolg+machen.html?cw=358
2) Are they alright beacuse of context (the first 2 examples)
3) aber er schafft es einfach nicht. ( I dug too deep :)
4) with hinhören, Ik it used for listening in direction apart from the speaker. However even with dudens examples, I struggle to use it. As for zusetzen, I remember seeing it, I didn’t look too much into it yet so it might not be as horrible ( had 5 meanings – I think on duden though). If those verbs aren’t this common, are there any common verbs I should try to read about that you would recommend?
5) As for jedoch, I was told it’s better in the middle, but it can start a sentence. Thanks for clarifying it’s not wierd
6) Do you like my name ;)
7) To other learners ” Wenn Sie diesen Blog lesen, werden Sie, zweifellos, ein Profi. Nahmen Sie die Information des Blog auf”
I am sorry for imposing but can you clarify How you would structure the issue in 1?
wir müssen einen weg finden,so dass gelingen dass Fest.
Wir müssen einen weg finden,das fest zu einem Erfolg zu machen
I attempted them again.
This is much better!
A year isn’t really something that goes well with “gelingen” (in most phrasings) because noone really “makes” it.
– Wir müssen einen Weg finden, (so) dass das Fest gelingt.
– Wir müssen einen Weg finden, das Fest zu einem Erfolg zu machen.
I am honestly not sure about “dass” vs “sodass”. Both sound a little bit off to me, but I can’t put my finger on why. It’s definitely something a native speaker might say or write but it would not be printed in a newspaper. I think it has something to do with “Weg”, but don’t worry about that too much. The use of “gelingen” was good this time.
1) Making the year a success sounds a bit business-y. “gelingen” is more suitable for singular tasks that you actually do. Noone really “does” a year.
The only thing that is idiomtic is “gelungenes Jahr” which means “good year/well lived year” but apart from that using “Erfolg” is the way to go for what you had in mind.
– Wir müssen versuchen, dieses Jahr zu einem Erfolg zu machen.
4) hinhören is about “listening toward” someone or something. It’s very similar to “zuhören” but not as “long” in a temporal sense. For “zusetzen” I’d honestly say, just forget it until you actually see it in context.
As for common verbs… all those I talk about in my archive :)
6) yes, it’s unusual and sounds tasty. Have you ever made such a sandwich?
7) genau :)
Great post, as usual! But where’s the Quiz?
That last bit about “gelangen” as in getting somewhere. Is it used just like gelingen but only in the context of getting somewhere instead of succeeding with something? Only literally, as in “Mir gelange es ins Bora Bora” / “Mir ist ins Bora Bora gelangt”?
Zu? Nach? In?
Your explanation of gelingen / schaffen being interchangeable (Heads up: dativ / akustativ switch between gelingen / schaffen) really cleared things up for me.
Helpful post but you need to raise your lovely assistant’s wages – I need that Quiz!
No, it only looks like “gelingen.” Grammatically it’s a pretty normal “motion” verb like “kommen,” so it’d be “Ich bin nach Bora Bora gelangt.” The preposition depends on what the normal “destination” preposition would be for where the subject is going – “nach Hause,” “zum Bahnhof,” “ans Ziel” (Duden’s examples).
I think a good working gloss at least in AE would be “to make it [to] somewhere” for the literal sense, or “come to / arrive at” in the figurative sense. Duden gives a couple examples:
– Der Brief ist nicht in meine Hände gelangt.
– The letter didn’t make it into my hands.
– Ich bin zu der Erkenntnis gelangt, dass du damals recht hattest.
– I’ve come to the realization that you were right back then.
One other construction is “jemandem zu Ohren gelangen,” but there the dative is the person whose ears are the destination.
Wow, perfect :). Did you know all these niche uses of “gelangen” or did you have to look them up?
I’ve heard at least a few here and there, but all the examples came from the Duden site. Really only the English explanation is my own work.
Honestly, I just wanted to take the opportunity to teach myself, since it’s a useful word that’s not really all the way in my active vocabulary, at least for those idiomatic uses, and I figure helping somebody else is a good way to try to get them into my head. I definitely opened your article thinking “I really hope he’s going to mention ‘gelangen'” – it took me a long time to stop mixing the two verbs up.
Kopfweh=
Ich lese den Satz mehrmals und denke nach-
”Ich bin zu der Erkenntnis gelangt, dass du damals recht hattest.”
Zuerst dachte ich, daß Du damals Unrecht gehabt hast.
Jetzt bin ich einer anderen Meinung und bin
zu der Erkenntnis gelangt, daß Du damals recht hättest.”
????
subjunktive ??
The “hättest” sounds wrong to me. The person thinks (now) that the reality of the past was a certain way. subjunctive is used to mark things you think are /or were NOT reality. So it has no place in this example.
Hope that helps :)
“where is the quiz”… that is an EXCELLENT question. Turns out the quiz was freaking empty and didn’t show after I changed ONE general quiz setting for the entire site.
I am sooooo pissed right now.
The quiz was there, and now I have to do it again. If I wasn’t so lazy I would write a complaint to the programmers. I am paying for this functionality after all.
As for “gelangen”…. that is used just like “kommen”.
– Ich bin nach Bora Bora gelangt.
– Wie gelange ich zum Markt?
The preposition depends on the location, not on the verb though. In my example Bora Bora is an island but I’m not sure if that’s actually accurate :D
Taking care of teh freaking quiz now :(!!! Thanks for the heads up!!
okay, the quizz is there now :). Viel Spaß!!
Heute ist es der Einhornherde gelungen, Wanderersuppe zuzubereiten.
Hahahaha… willkommen an Bord vom Truth-Train :D
sein… so I was taught that gets used for the past tense when there’s a change of state or place (so going to the shops or growing old). So I guess the change here is a change of state to the state of being successful? Is that the right way to think about it?
Couldn’t have said it better!! It’s kind of a parallel to “werden” which also goes with “sein”.
Thank you to the other members who made it possible for me to get a free membership. German is easy has been most helpful.