befallen
German, verb
befallen is spelled B-E-F-A-L-L-E-N (8 letters) and appears 2.9 times per million words in written German, the 18,511th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Befallen is a German verb meaning “to affect” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, Befällen is a different word: “dative plural of Befall”. With a capital, Befallen is a different word: “gerund of befallen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “plötzlich betreffen”.
What does befallen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to affect
- 2
to seize
- 3
to infest
noun
- 1
masculinedative plural of Befall
noun
- 1
neutergerund of befallen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. von etwas betroffen
verb: 1. plötzlich betreffen
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 befallen
- befällt present singular third-person
- befiel past
- haben auxiliary
- 7 strong
- befallend participle present
- befalle first-person indicative present
- befällst indicative present second-person
- befallt indicative plural present
- befallest second-person singular subjunctive
- befallet plural second-person subjunctive
- befielen first-person indicative plural
- befiele first-person formal rare
- befielst indicative preterite second-person
- befielt indicative plural preterite
- befielest formal rare second-person
- befielet formal plural rare
- befall imperative second-person singular
- befallener positive nominative strong
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to befallen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is befallen in German?
befallen appears 2.9 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).