What does “Revue passieren lassen” mean in German?

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B1 German listening practice · Austrian German · Picked for people who know some

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Revue passieren lassen
German idiom for looking back on memories
“to let (something) pass in review” — to mentally look back over past events

Reflecting on a loved one’s life, this speaker says wenn man dann mal alles Revue passieren lässt — “when you let it all pass in review.” The idiom means to mentally look back over a stretch of time, replaying memories one by one, the way a general once reviewed marching troops.

The phrase borrows French Revue (“review,” from revoir, “to see again”) and the military image of passer les troupes en revue, “to have the troops march past for inspection.” In everyday German it’s now purely reflective — das Jahr Revue passieren lassen (“to review the year”), or here, a whole life, remembered in the same orderly, respectful procession.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this B1 German listening practice video?

96.8%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common German words
Most of the words in this video are common German words.

How common in written German

92.1%
Top 1,000
96.8%
Top 2,000
97.9%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

95.1%
Top 1,000
99.5%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than B1. Here is what they mean.

auskennen
1×
Not in top 5,000
to know one's way around
gepusht
1×
Not in top 5,000
to push (someone) forward
geschimpft
1×
Not in top 5,000
to scold or complain
stresst
1×
Not in top 5,000
to stress out (someone)
endeffekt
2×
Not in top 5,000
final effect or result
es jemand ans Herz legen
1×
urge someone to do something important

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-DE 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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