German

Noun

Geschehen n ‎(genitive Geschehens, plural Geschehen)

1. events, happenings
2. that is happening, that was happening
   • 1931, Gebhard Mehring, Schrift und Schrifttum, Silberburg-Verlag, page 13:

     Der Zerfall des Römerreiches raubte der Stadt Rom die alte Stellung als Mittelpunkt alles Geschehens.

     The decay of the Roman empire robbed the city of Rome of the old position as the center of all that was happening.

Declension

German

Verb

geschehen ‎(class 5 strong, third-person singular simple present geschieht, past tense geschah, past participle geschehen, past subjunctive geschähe, auxiliary sein)

1. (intransitive) to occur; to happen

   Wie konnte das nur geschehen?‎

   How could that have happened?

   Dein Wille geschehe, wie im Himmel so auf Erden.‎

   Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. (Lord's Prayer)

2. (with dative or with "mit ...", impersonal) to happen (to someone); to serve (someone)

   Es geschieht ihm recht.‎ ― It serves him right.

Usage notes

• Only third-person forms are common. The first- and second-person forms are very rare and used at most in philosophy, poetry, or the like.
• In most regions, geschehen is rather formal, with passieren being the more normal word for “to happen”.

Conjugation

Synonyms

• (happen): passieren

See too

• gern geschehen