What does “schiefgegangen” mean in German?

Spiegelfolie am Fenster: So geht es schief

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

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schiefgegangen
Everyday phrase: when things go wrong
“schiefgehen” = to go wrong, to not turn out the way you planned.

Trying to put mirror film on his windows, he flops onto the bed and groans: “bei mir ist halt einfach alles schiefgegangen” — everything just went wrong for me. “Schief” means crooked or slanted, so “schiefgegangen” pictures a plan tipping sideways instead of going straight. Germans use it for small messes and real disasters alike — you will start hearing it everywhere once you know it.

In the clip he sighs: “Ungelogen, bei mir ist halt einfach alles schiefgegangen.” — “No joke, everything just went wrong for me.” The full verb is “schiefgehen.” Here are some everyday uses: • “Der Plan ist schiefgegangen.” = The plan went wrong. • “Was kann da schon schiefgehen?” = What could possibly go wrong? (often said right before it does). • “Hoffentlich geht nichts schief.” = Hopefully nothing goes wrong. Note: “schief” on its own means crooked or slanted (a “schiefes Bild” is a picture hanging crooked). Paired with “gehen,” it stops being about angles and just means a plan did not work out. It is casual and very common in spoken German.

How common are the words?

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

94.6%
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

86%
Top 1,000
94.6%
Top 2,000
97.3%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

92.3%
Top 1,000
97.6%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000

Harder words in this video

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

satisfying
2×
Not in top 5,000
satisfying; gratifying
spülwasser
2×
Not in top 5,000
dishwater
entgegengekommen
1×
Not in top 5,000
come to meet
halleluja
1×
Not in top 5,000
hallelujah
rauskrieg
1×
Not in top 5,000
got out of

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

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