There are several verbs in German that only allow third-person subjects. This means that the verb can only be used with "er" (he), "sie" (she), "es" (it), or a plural noun as the subject of the sentence.
Two examples of such verbs are "sich ereignen" and "passieren.".
German
English
Es hat sich gestern ein Unfall ereignet.
Yesterday an accident happened.
Verbs Only Allowing Third-Person Subjects: sich ereignen, passieren...
Some verbs are only used in the third person singular and plural, because they indicate events or processes rather than concrete subjects.
Some verbs used this way are:
German
English
sich ereignen
to take place, to happen
gelingen
to succeed
geschehen
to happen
missglücken
to fail
passieren
to happen
Let's take a look at an example in context:
German
English
Gestern Abend ist ein Unfall passiert.
An accident happened last night.
Quiz
1/3
Chosse the correct form: Letzte Woche hat ___.
0
correct answers.