Gelingt

Gelingen is a German verb that means to succeed or to come off. It is used to describe events, plans, or tasks that turn out well. In everyday language it is often employed in an impersonal construction with the pronoun es, as in “Es gelingt mir” (I manage to) or “Es gelingt dem Team” (the team succeeds).

Etymology and usage notes: gelingen derives from older Germanic roots and is formed with the typical German verb pattern of the language. In present tense, the common structure is es gelingt, with the dative personal pronoun indicating who benefits from the success (mir, dir, ihm, uns, Ihnen). The sentence can also present a concrete subject: “Der Plan gelingt” (the plan succeeds). The verb is usually used with infinitive clauses to express specific actions, for example: “Es gelingt mir, das Problem zu lösen.”

Tense and voice: the simple past is gelingte or gelang, while the perfect is ist gelungen. The past forms describe a completed success, and ist gelungen is often used in written or formal contexts to report that something has turned out well.

Noun form: das Gelingen exists as a noun meaning “the success” or “the accomplishment.” It is used to refer to the outcome or the feasibility of a project, as in “Das Gelingen des Vorhabens hängt von der Vorbereitung ab.”

Related terms include synonyms such as funktionieren, klappen, or gelingen with similar meanings in different contexts. The concept is common in both everyday speech and formal discourse.