auseinanderfällt

Auseinanderfallen is a German verb meaning to fall apart or disintegrate, in both physical and metaphorical senses. It is formed from auseinander (apart) and fallen (to fall) and is a separable prefix verb. In present tense the prefix is separated: er fällt auseinander; in the simple past: er fiel auseinander; in the perfect tense: er ist auseinandergefallen.

The term is used for objects that physically break into pieces, for example: Der Tisch ist auseinandergefallen after the drain broke, or Das Gerüst ist auseinandergefallen. It is also common in figurative contexts, describing situations, plans, arguments, or institutions that collapse or become unusable: Die Opposition ist an internen Streitigkeiten auseinandergefallen, or Der Plan ist auseinandergefallen. The nuance often points to a process of fragmentation leading to a final, changed state, rather than a single instantaneous event.

Relation to other terms: zerfallen and zusammenbrechen are related but carry different nuances. Zerfallen often emphasizes gradual decay or decomposition, while zusammenbrechen highlights a sudden collapse. Auseinanderfallen tends to stress the separation into components or parts.

Nominal use: in formal writing one can speak of das Auseinanderfallen, for example in analyses or descriptions of structural or organizational breakdowns. The expression is widely understood in standard German and occurs in both everyday and technical language.