entfielen

Entfielen is a German verb formed from ent- and fallen. It has several related senses centered on removal, omission or disappearance, and its form entfielen appears in the simple past with plural subjects.

The primary meaning is that something did not take place or was canceled. In this sense, entfielen is used for events, schedules or lists that were not realized or did not occur. For example: Die Termine entfielen im letzten Monat. The present tense is typically expressed with fallen aus or entfallen, and the perfect with ist entfallen: Die Termine fallen aus / Die Termine sind entfallen.

A second sense covers something slipping from memory or awareness. In everyday language, one often says Der Name ist mir entfallen (the name slipped my mind). In the simple past this can be realized as Der Name entfiel mir, or more commonly Die Namen entfielen mir in older or more formal texts.

A third, less common sense relates to items being removed or omitted from a plan or list, meaning they no longer appear in the intended arrangement. In past narration one might encounter Sätze/ Punkte entfielen dem Plan, though ausfallen or entfallen in the relevant tense are more typical.

Usage notes: Entfallen is used with a dative experiencer in the memory sense (mir, dir, uns) and with a subject for cancellation or omission (Termine, Veranstaltungen). It is distinct from ausfallen, which more plainly emphasizes a failure to occur due to external causes.

See also: ausfallen, vergessen, entfallen.