to decay / expire
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to decay
For buildings or objects: to fall into a poor, dilapidated condition due to lack of care or age.
Das alte Schloss auf dem Hügel ist seit Jahrzehnten unbewohnt und sichtlich verfallen.
The old castle on the hill has been uninhabited for decades and has visibly decayed.
to expire
To lose validity; to expire. Often refers to deadlines, tickets, vouchers, or rights.
Wenn du den Gutschein nicht bis Ende des Monats einlöst, verfällt er.
If you don't redeem the voucher by the end of the month, it will expire.
to be enthralled by
To become very strongly emotionally or mentally attached to someone or something and become dependent on them/it; to be under the spell of a thing or person.
Er war ihrem Charme vom ersten Augenblick an komplett verfallen.
He was completely enthralled by her charm from the very first moment.
to hit upon
To come up with a particular, often unusual idea or thought.
Ich weiß nicht, wie er darauf verfallen ist, sein Auto pink zu lackieren.
I don't know how he hit upon the idea of painting his car pink.
to deteriorate
To decline severely physically or mentally; to lose strength and health.
Nach seiner langen, schweren Krankheit war der Patient zusehends verfallen.
After his long, serious illness, the patient had visibly deteriorated.
'Verfallen' (to decay/expire) is an inseparable verb. The prefix 'ver-' remains firmly attached to the verb stem in all conjugated forms and sentence positions.
Ich fürchte, mein Kinoticket ist bereits verfallen.
I'm afraid my movie ticket has already expired.
The perfect tense of 'verfallen' (to decay/expire) is always formed with the auxiliary verb 'sein' (to be), because it describes a process or a change of state. So it is 'ist verfallen' (has decayed/expired).
Die alte Mühle am Fluss ist über die Jahre komplett verfallen.
The old mill by the river has completely decayed over the years.
The meaning can often be recognized from the subject or the sentence structure. Buildings 'verfallen' (become dilapidated), vouchers 'verfallen' (become invalid/expire), a person 'verfällt' someone or something (dative), or 'verfällt auf' an idea (preposition).
Das alte Bauernhaus ist leider schon stark verfallen.
Unfortunately, the old farmhouse has already decayed badly.
In the meaning 'to become invalid', 'verfallen' is often combined with deadlines or things with limited validity: a ticket, a voucher, an offer, a claim, or an option expires.
Lösen Sie den Gutschein schnell ein, bevor er verfällt.
Redeem the voucher quickly before it expires.
When a person 'verfällt' (becomes enthralled by / addicted to) another person or a thing, the object is in the dative. This construction expresses strong emotional dependence or subservience.
Sie ist seinem Lächeln sofort verfallen.
She was immediately enthralled by his smile.
The meaning 'to come up with an idea' is expressed by the fixed expression 'auf etwas verfallen' (to hit upon something). The preposition 'auf' is always followed by the accusative here.
Wie bist du nur auf die absurde Idee verfallen, nachts schwimmen zu gehen?
How on earth did you hit upon the absurd idea of going swimming at night?
to occur to / collapse / invade
Einfallen and auf etwas verfallen can both express that someone comes up with an idea. Einfallen usually takes the person in the dative, while verfallen requires the phrase “auf etwas verfallen” and often highlights an unusual idea. Pay particular attention to the sentence structure.
Schließlich verfiel sie auf die ungewöhnliche Idee, die Karten per Kurier zu schicken.
Eventually, she hit upon the unusual idea of sending the tickets by courier.
Mir fiel plötzlich ein, dass wir die Eintrittskarten zu Hause vergessen hatten.
It suddenly occurred to me that we had left the tickets at home.
