aufprallen

to impact, hit a surface hard

verb OWF-pral-len Rare

Usage Note

Aufprallen describes a body or object hitting a surface hard — auf den Boden aufprallen = to hit the ground hard. Used in accident descriptions and physics contexts.

Examples

"Der Sportler prallte beim Sprung hart auf den Boden auf."

Natural Translation

The athlete hit the ground hard on his jump.

Literal Translation

The athlete impacted on the jump hard onto the ground.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

German Word Order: The Verb Rules That Trip You Up

German word order comes down to three verb-position rules: the verb is second in main clauses, last after weil and dass, and time comes before place.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Days, Months & Seasons (am, im & -tag)

Days of the week in German use am, months and seasons use im — plus the -tag pattern, capitalized nouns, and how to build a real sentence with a day.

June 5, 2026 4 min read

GermanNow

How to Tell Time in German Without Mistakes

Halb sieben means 6:30, not 7:30. Master telling time in German — Viertel nach, halb, vor, the 24-hour clock, and the prepositions that trip up beginners.

June 5, 2026 5 min read

GermanNow

German Modal Particles: doch, mal, ja, eben

German modal particles doch, mal, ja, and eben add attitude, not meaning. Before/after examples show how to use each one so your German stops sounding stiff.

June 9, 2026 6 min read