passieren
to happen
To occur, to take place. Describes an event or incident that happens.
EXAMPLE
Gestern ist auf der Autobahn ein Unfall passiert.
Yesterday, an accident happened on the highway.
passieren
to happen / pass
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Meanings
passieren
to pass
To go past a place or cross a particular point, such as a border or checkpoint.
EXAMPLE
Um in die Schweiz zu fahren, müssen wir die Grenze passieren.
To drive into Switzerland, we have to pass the border.
passieren
to strain / sieve
In cooking, to press food through a sieve in order to purée it or separate it from solid parts.
EXAMPLE
Für die Tomatensoße müssen die gekochten Tomaten passiert werden.
For the tomato sauce, the cooked tomatoes have to be strained.
Usage tips
Perfect tense with 'sein'
In the meaning 'geschehen' (to happen), 'passieren' always forms the perfect tense with the auxiliary verb 'sein' (to be), not with 'haben' (to have). This is an important exception for a verb that does not describe movement.
EXAMPLE
Was ist denn hier passiert?
What happened here?
Dative construction
When 'passieren' means 'geschehen' (to happen), the person something happens to is in the dative. The event itself is the subject of the sentence.
EXAMPLE
Dem Fahrer ist bei dem Unfall nichts passiert.
Nothing happened to the driver in the accident.
Context clues
You can recognize the meaning from the context: Is it about an event ('Was ist passiert?' — What happened?), a place ('die Grenze passieren' — to pass the border), or food in the kitchen ('Tomaten passieren' — to strain tomatoes)?
EXAMPLE
Es kann immer mal ein Fehler passieren.
A mistake can always happen now and then.
Accusative object
When 'passieren' means 'vorbeigehen' (to go past) or 'überqueren' (to cross), it requires an accusative object. This object is the place that one passes.
EXAMPLE
Die Wanderer müssen noch eine schmale Brücke passieren.
The hikers still have to pass a narrow bridge.
Cooking terminology
The meaning 'durch ein Sieb streichen' (to press through a sieve) is used almost exclusively in the context of cooking and food preparation. The verb often appears in the passive voice.
EXAMPLE
Die gekochten Kartoffeln werden für das Püree passiert.
The cooked potatoes are strained for the purée.
Compare with
kommengeschehenauftretenstattfindenvorkommenbegebenüberquerenereignenvorbeikommenunterlaufenwiderfahrenzutragenvorfallendurchfahrenvorbeifahrendurchqueren
passieren vs kommen
to come
Both words can express that an event takes place. passieren is the normal, direct way to refer to something happening, while kommen in certain expressions such as „es kommt zu“ describes the event occurring somewhat more indirectly. Use passieren in general and kommen especially in such fixed expressions.
passieren
Nach dem Streit passierte eine kurze Pause.
After the argument, there was a short pause.
kommen
Nach dem Streit kam es zu einer kurzen Pause.
After the argument, there was a short pause.
In real life
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