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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

gelingen

to succeed

  • #368 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: gelungen

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. es it succeeds

Simple past

Präteritum · the past of writing, and of sein, haben and the modals in speech

  1. es it succeeded

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. es it has succeeded

Future

Futur I · “werden”; in speech the present with “morgen” does the job

  1. es it will succeed

Conditional

Konjunktiv II · “would”: “würde”, and “wäre”, “hätte”, “könnte”

  1. es it would succeed

How to use gelingen

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Es gelingt mir nicht, früher aufzustehen.

    I can't manage to get up earlier.

  2. Simple past

    Zum Glück gelang ihr der Kuchen beim zweiten Mal.

    Luckily the cake turned out well for her the second time.

  3. Perfect

    Das Fest ist euch wirklich gelungen.

    Your party really was a success.

  4. Future

    Es wird dir schon gelingen, mach dir keine Sorgen.

    You'll manage it, don't worry.

  5. Conditional

    Ohne deine Hilfe würde mir das nie gelingen.

    Without your help I'd never manage it.

Good to know

  • The thing that turns out well is the subject, and the person is in the dative: Der Kuchen ist mir gelungen.
  • Gelungen as an adjective means well done: ein gelungener Abend.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.