fehlen

See also: Fehlen

German

fehlen (weak, third-person singular present fehlt, past tense fehlte, past participle gefehlt, auxiliary haben)

(impersonal) for there to be a lack (idiomatically translated by English lack with the dative object as the subject)
Der Suppe fehlt es an Geschmack.
The soup lacks flavor.
to be absent, to be missing (idiomatically translated by English not have with the German subject as the direct object and the dative object as the subject)
Ich würde es kaufen, aber mir fehlt das Geld.
I would buy it but I don't have the money.
to be missed (idiomatically translated by English miss with the German subject as the direct object and the dative object as the subject)
Seit meinem Umzug fehlen mir meine Freunde.
I've been missing my friends since I moved.
(regional) to be felt
Fehlt dir etwas? - Nein, mir fehlt nichts, danke! ― Do you feel unwell? - No, I'm fine, thanks!

Was fehlt ihr denn? ― What's wrong with her?
(intransitive) to be absent, to be missing
Das Gemälde fehlt an der Wand.
The painting is missing from the wall.
(dated) to fail
(literary) to sin, to err
- 1787, Friedrich Schiller, Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien, 3. Akt, 3. Auftritt:
  Sie hat / Aus falscher Großmuth sehr gefehlt. Ich werde / Sie zu bestrafen wissen.
  —from a false / Mistaken honor she has deeply erred / And I shall punish her.

Note that the roles of subject and object are "reversed" from the English verbs that would be used to translate fehlen. For example:

Du fehlst mir. ― I miss you.

Ich fehle dir. ― You miss me.

When a location is given, the preposition used gives the location where what is missing is supposed to be. For example

Das Kissen ist auf dem Bett. ― The pillow is on the bed.

Das Kissen fehlt auf dem Bett. ― The pillow is missing from the bed.

The preposition auf is used rather than aus or von.

Conjugation of fehlen (weak, auxiliary haben)

¹Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.

Composed forms of fehlen (weak, auxiliary haben)