befolgen
German, verb
befolgen is spelled B-E-F-O-L-G-E-N (8 letters) and appears 3.9 times per million words in written German, the 14,778th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Befolgen is a German verb meaning “to observe, follow, obey (orders, laws, rules etc); to comply with or abide by” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Befolgen is a different word: “gerund of befolgen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “(einen Befehl) ausführen”.
What does befolgen mean in English?
verb
- 1
to observe, follow, obey (orders, laws, rules etc); to comply with or abide by
noun
- 1
neutergerund of befolgen
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. (einen Befehl) ausführen
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 befolgen
- befolgt present singular third-person
- befolgte past
- haben auxiliary
- befolgend participle present
- befolge first-person indicative present
- befolgst indicative present second-person
- befolgest second-person singular subjunctive
- befolget plural second-person subjunctive
- befolgten first-person indicative plural
- befolgtest indicative preterite second-person
- befolgtet indicative plural preterite
- befolg imperative second-person singular
- habe befolgt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben befolgt first-person indicative multiword-construction
- befolg! imperative singular
- befolge! imperative singular
- befolgt! imperative plural
- befolgt haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to befolgen
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is befolgen in German?
befolgen appears 3.9 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).