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gelingen. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
gelingen, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
gelingen in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
gelingen you have here. The definition of the word
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German
Etymology
From Middle High German gelingen, from Old High German gilingan, a prefixed form of lingan, from Proto-West Germanic *lingwan. Compare Yiddish געלינגען (gelingen).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɡəˈlɪŋən/,
- Hyphenation: ge‧lin‧gen
- Rhymes: -ɪŋn̩
Verb
gelingen (class 3 strong, third-person singular present gelingt, past tense gelang, past participle gelungen, past subjunctive gelänge, auxiliary sein)
- (intransitive) to turn out well, to work out, to go smoothly, to succeed, to come off
- Synonym: glücken
- Antonym: misslingen
- 2011, Lorett Sachs, Glück (k)ein Geheimnis: Lyrik für viele Stimmungen, BoD – Books on Demand →ISBN, page 7, poem Guten Morgen - neuer Tag:
Deine Stunden, Augenblicke
mal sehen, ob du gelingst.- Your hours, moments
let's see if you turn out well.
- 2011, Heiko Alexander, Erfolg beginnt im Kopf: Die Geheimnisse des NLP, C. H. Beck (e-book version without page numbers):
[…] Sie [können] zu einer Sache auch sagen: Du bist eine Kleinigkeit und als solche nehme ich dich wahr. Selbst wenn du mir jetzt nicht gelingst, wird mich das nicht aufhalten!- you also say to an affair: You are child's play and thus I perceive you. Even if you don't work out by now, this can not stop me!
2015, Tim Krohn, Nachts in Vals:Während sie über die Brücke ging, glitt sie aus, doch es gelang ihr, sich aufzufangen.- As she crossed the bridge she slipped over, but she managed to catch herself.
Usage notes
- Chiefly used impersonally (i.e. in the third person). The other forms (first and second person) are uncommon and poetic.
Conjugation
Conjugation of
gelingen (class 3
strong, auxiliary
sein)
1Rare except in very formal contexts; alternative in würde normally preferred.
Composed forms of
gelingen (class 3
strong, auxiliary
sein)
Further reading
- “gelingen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “gelingen” in Duden online
- “gelingen” in OpenThesaurus.de
- “gelingen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch *gilingan, from Proto-West Germanic *lingwan.
Verb
gelingen
- to succeed
- to happen to befall
- to be pleasing, to be satisfying
Inflection
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
Further reading