passieren
happen
verb pa-SEE-ren Less Common
Origin: from French 'passer' (to pass)
Also means
pass through
Usage Note
passieren most often means 'to happen' and forms its perfect with sein: was ist passiert? ('what happened?'). A second, more literal sense is to pass through a place or checkpoint, and in cooking it even means to strain or sieve.
Examples
"Was ist hier passiert?"
Natural Translation
What happened here?
Literal Translation
What is here happened?
Related Words
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