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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?

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