scheitern

fail

verb SHY-tern Less Common

Usage Note

scheitern means to fail in the sense of an undertaking falling apart, and it takes sein as its auxiliary: der Plan ist gescheitert. The cause is introduced by an (+ dative): am Geld scheitern ('to founder on money'). It is stronger and more final than versagen (to fail to perform).

Examples

"Das Projekt ist leider gescheitert."

Natural Translation

The project unfortunately failed.

Literal Translation

The project is unfortunately failed.

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

How Long Does It Take to Learn German? Real Timeline

How long to learn German? Conversational B1 takes ~6–12 months, fluent B2 about 1.5–2.5 years part-time. Here's an honest, hours-based timeline by CEFR level.

June 9, 2026 5 min read

GermanNow

German Colors: Names, Shades, and Idioms

German colors are adjectives that take endings — say das rote Auto, not das rot Auto. Get the names, shades, the das-Rot rule, and 14 color idioms.

June 5, 2026 5 min read

GermanNow

German Greetings by Region: Grüß Gott to Grüezi

German greetings change by region: say Moin in Hamburg, Grüß Gott in Bavaria, Grüezi in Switzerland. A map of every hello and goodbye, plus du vs. Sie.

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Two-Way Prepositions: Accusative or Dative?

Use accusative for movement into a place (wohin?) and dative for a fixed location (wo?). Master all nine German two-way prepositions with one simple test.

June 9, 2026 6 min read