anfallen
German, verb
anfallen is spelled A-N-F-A-L-L-E-N (8 letters) and appears 3.0 times per million words in written German, the 18,198th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Anfallen is a German verb meaning “to set upon, to attack suddenly (especially of animals or persons compared to animals)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, Anfällen is a different word: “dative plural of Anfall”. With a capital, Anfallen is a different word: “gerund of anfallen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “jemanden plötzlich und meist gewaltsam attackieren”.
What does anfallen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to set upon, to attack suddenly (especially of animals or persons compared to animals)
Einmal hat mich im Wald ein Wildschwein angefallen.
- 2
to assail, overwhelm
Wo sie auch hingeht, wird sie von Paparazzi angefallen.
- 3
to befall, grip, overwhelm suddenly (of moods, feelings)
Wie ich da so saß, fiel mich eine tiefe Verzweiflung an.
- 4
to arise, be incurred, to accumulate
Bei der Produktion fällt sehr viel Ausschuss an.
noun
- 1
masculinedative plural of Anfall
noun
- 1
neutergerund of anfallen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. jemanden plötzlich und meist gewaltsam attackieren 2. auftreten, bei einem Prozess entstehen 3. jemanden ergreifen
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of anfallen
- fällt an present singular third-person
- fiel an past
- angefallen participle past
- haben auxiliary
- sein auxiliary
- 7 strong
- haben or sein auxiliary
- anfallend participle present
- anzufallen infinitive infinitive-zu
- falle an first-person indicative present
- fallen an first-person indicative plural
- fällst an indicative present second-person
- fallt an indicative plural present
- fallest an second-person singular subjunctive
- fallet an plural second-person subjunctive
- fielen an first-person indicative plural
- fiele an first-person singular subjunctive
- fielst an indicative preterite second-person
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to anfallen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is anfallen in German?
anfallen appears 3.0 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).