Überlassen

Überlassen is a German verb meaning to leave something to someone else, to entrust, or to hand over control, responsibility, or decision-making. It can also mean to leave something to chance or to fate. The term carries a sense of voluntary transfer rather than mere relocation, and it is often used in formal or literary contexts as well as in legal or administrative language.

Usage and construction: Überlassen is transitive and commonly used with a dative recipient and an accusative object: jemandem etwas überlassen. Examples include: Ich überlasse dir die Entscheidung. Dem Verein wurde das Stadion überlassen. Die Entscheidung blieb dem Zufall überlassen. In passive constructions it appears as: Es wurde dem Angeklagten die Freiheit überlassen. The phrase can also appear in idiomatic forms such as die Wahl dem Zufall überlassen.

Nuances and register: The verb emphasizes a deliberate relinquishment of control or judgment to another person, a body, or to circumstance. It tends to be more formal or neutral than everyday synonyms like übergeben or anvertrauen. Its use is common in legal documents, administrative language, journalism, and literary prose.

Synonyms and related expressions: Synonyms include übergeben, anvertrauen, abtreten, oder auch die Entscheidung someone anderem überlassen. Common collocations include die Wahl/Jahrsatz der Entscheidung dem Zufall überlassen oder jemandem die Entscheidung überlassen.

Etymology and variants: Derivation from über- plus lassen (to let, to allow). The verb is used with both concrete objects and abstract concepts (e.g., eine Entscheidung, die Freiheit, das Schicksal). Overall, überlassen denotes a formal transfer of control, responsibility, or possibility to another party or to external factors.