Study Resource: List of German impersonal verbs
German verbs that are always impersonal
German impersonal verbs are used in sentences like this:
impersonal verb
The following are always impersonal verbs in German:
German | English |
|---|---|
schneien | to snow |
regnen | to rain |
stürmen | to storm |
hageln | to hail |
donnern | to thunder |
blitzen | to flash |
nieseln | to drizzle |
dämmern | to dawn |
gewittern | there is a thunderstorm |
dunkeln | to grow dark |
German verbs that are often, but not always, impersonal
German | English |
|---|---|
geben | to give, to be |
haben | to have |
klopfen | to knock |
klingeln | to ring |
klingen | to sound |
pfeifen | to whistle |
poltern | to rumble |
dröhnen | to roar |
spuken | to haunt |
brennen | to burn |
knallen | to bang |
sein | to be |
werden | to become, will |
krachen | to crash |
laufen | to walk, to go |
gehen | to go |
handeln | to deal |
kochen | to cook, to boil |
läuten | to ring |
rauschen | to rush, to roar |
frieren | to freeze |
gießen | to pour |
heiß / warm / kalt / kühl sein | to be hot / warm / cold / cool |
auffallen | to stick out |
einfallen | to think of, to come to mind |
fehlen | to be missing |
gefallen | to please |
gehören | to belong |
gelingen | to succeed |
leid tun | to be sorry |
sich handeln | to concern |
German verbs that are partly personal
The following verbs can be used impersonally, with impersonal es(it) as a subject. They can also be used as personal verbs, but only with third-person subjects that are not intentionally causing the situation to arise. They are not with first-person (“I” or “we”) or second person (“you”) subjects.
German | English |
|---|---|
gelingen | to succeed |
glücken | to turn out well |
misslingen | to fail |
missglücken | to fail |
passieren | to happen |
sich ereignen | to occur |
geschehen | to occur |
mangeln | to lack |
vorfallen | to happen |
widerfahren | to befall |
jucken | to itch |
schmerzen | to hurt |
weh tun | to hurt |
kribbeln | to tingle |
tauen | to thaw |
