gelingen

succeed

verb guh-LING-en Common

Usage Note

gelingen is impersonal and takes a dative person, so 'I succeeded' is es ist mir gelungen (literally 'it succeeded to me'). It is a strong verb (gelang, gelungen) and conveys that an effort turned out well.

Examples

"Der Kuchen ist mir gut gelungen."

Natural Translation

My cake turned out well.

Literal Translation

The cake is to-me well succeeded.

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