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fluentbyear

GERMAN VERB

geschehen

to happen

  • #323 most used
  • Strong verb
  • Past participle: geschehen

Conjugation

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

Present

Präsens · now, habits and facts

  1. es it happens

Simple past

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

  1. es it happened

Perfect

Perfekt · the past of speech: “habe gemacht”

  1. es it has happened

Future

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

  1. es it will happen

Conditional

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

  1. es it would happen

How to use geschehen

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

  1. Present

    Was geschieht jetzt mit dem alten Haus?

    What happens now with the old house?

  2. Simple past

    Das Unglück geschah mitten in der Nacht.

    The accident happened in the middle of the night.

  3. Perfect

    Was ist hier bloß geschehen?

    What on earth happened here?

  4. Future

    Es wird nichts geschehen, keine Sorge.

    Nothing will happen, don't worry.

  5. Conditional

    Was würde geschehen, wenn wir nicht zahlen?

    What would happen if we didn't pay?

Good to know

  • Gern geschehen is you're welcome, the answer to danke.
  • Geschehen is a touch formal; passieren is the everyday word.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: strong verb.