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vorfallen

German, verb

vorfallen is spelled V-O-R-F-A-L-L-E-N (9 letters) and appears 1.8 times per million words in written German, the 26,348th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Vorfallen is a German verb meaning “to happen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, Vorfällen is a different word: “dative plural of Vorfall”. With a capital, Vorfallen is a different word: “gerund of vorfallen”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “unwillkürlich nach vorne geraten (Medizin: von Organen)”.

What does vorfallen mean in English?

verb

  1. 1

    to happen

    Er verhält sich so, als ob nichts vorgefallen wäre.

  2. 2

    to fall forwards

  3. 3

    to prolapse

noun

as Vorfällen
  1. 1

    masculinedative plural of Vorfall

noun

as Vorfallen
  1. 1

    neutergerund of vorfallen

Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How German dictionaries define it

verb: 1. unwillkürlich nach vorne geraten (Medizin: von Organen) 2. sich abspielen, geschehen

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 vorfallen

  • fällt vor present singular third-person
  • fiel vor past
  • vorgefallen participle past
  • sein auxiliary
  • 7 strong
  • vorfallend participle present
  • vorzufallen infinitive infinitive-zu
  • es fällt vor indicative present singular
  • es falle vor singular subjunctive subjunctive-i
  • es fiel vor indicative preterite singular
  • es fiele vor singular subjunctive subjunctive-ii
  • dass es vorfällt indicative present subordinate-clause
  • dass es vorfalle subjunctive subjunctive-i subordinate-clause
  • dass es vorfiel indicative preterite subordinate-clause
  • dass es vorfiele subjunctive subjunctive-ii subordinate-clause
  • es ist vorgefallen indicative multiword-construction perfect
  • es sei vorgefallen multiword-construction perfect singular
  • es war vorgefallen indicative multiword-construction pluperfect

Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

English words that translate to vorfallen

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is vorfallen in German?

vorfallen appears 1.8 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).

What to look up after vorfallen