Fehlt

Fehlt is the third-person singular present tense form of the German verb fehlen. The core meaning is to be missing, absent, or lacking. In German, fehlen is used to indicate that something expected or required is not present, and it frequently involves a dative experiencer.

In usage, fehlen is typically intransitive and takes a dative object for the person who notices the lack, while the thing that is missing can be the subject of the clause. Common patterns include: Geld fehlt mir (I lack money) or Mir fehlt Geld (Money is lacking to me). Another frequent construction is Es fehlt an Beweisen (There is a lack of evidence). For a past perspective, one can say Der Schlüssel hat gefehlt (The key was missing).

Conjugation in the present tense (examples): ich fehle, du fehlst, er fehlt, wir fehlen, ihr fehlt, sie fehlen. The perfect tense uses haben: hat gefehlt. Example: Der Bericht hat gefehlt in der Liste. The subordinate clause form Es hat gefehlt is also possible.

Noun and adjective forms: das Fehlen means absence or deficiency, as in das Fehlen von Beweisen. The adjective fehlend or the participle gefehlt can describe something that is missing, e.g., fehlende Informationen.

Context and nuance: fehlen appears in everyday speech, editorial language, inventories, and reports. It is closely related to synonyms like mangeln (to lack) and to phrases such as Fehlanzeige (no indication / failure to find). Translations vary by context and can be “to be missing,” “to be lacking,” or “to be short of.”