schiefgehen
German, verb[ˈʃiːfˌɡeːən]
schiefgehen is spelled S-C-H-I-E-F-G-E-H-E-N (11 letters) and appears 1.9 times per million words in written German, the 25,497th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Schiefgehen is a German verb meaning “to go wrong” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “nicht gelingen; anders verlaufen, als geplant und dabei erfolglos bleiben”.
What does schiefgehen mean in English?
verb
- 1
informalto go wrong
Was soll schon schiefgehen?
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. nicht gelingen; anders verlaufen, als geplant und dabei erfolglos bleiben
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 schiefgehen
- geht schief present singular third-person
- ging schief past
- schiefgegangen participle past
- sein auxiliary
- 7 strong
- schiefgehend participle present
- schiefzugehen infinitive infinitive-zu
- gehen schief indicative plural present
- gehe schief singular subjunctive subjunctive-i
- gingen schief indicative plural preterite
- ginge schief singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii
- schiefgeht indicative present singular
- schiefgehe singular subjunctive subjunctive-i
- schiefging indicative preterite singular
- schiefgingen indicative plural preterite
- schiefginge singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii
- ist schiefgegangen indicative multiword-construction perfect
- sind schiefgegangen indicative multiword-construction perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce schiefgehen?
- [ˈʃiːfˌɡeːən]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is schiefgehen in German?
schiefgehen appears 1.9 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).