German word

anfallen

Pronunciation

IPA/ˈanˌfalən/

Meaning

  • verbattack

Example

Der Hund fiel den Postboten an.

The dog attacked the mail carrier.

Illustration for anfallen (attack)

More examples

Während der Debatte fielen mehrere Teilnehmer den Redner verbal an.

During the debate, several participants attacked the speaker verbally.

Core concept

Something falls onto a person: a dog lunges at a postman, or work and costs land on someone.

Common phrases

  • jemanden anfallen

    attack someone

  • jemanden verbal anfallen

    attack someone verbally

Similar words

angreifen: To deliberately use force against someone to cause harm.
überfallen: To surprise someone with a violent attack or robbery.
zustoßen: For an unexpected event or misfortune to occur.
belasten: To weigh heavily on someone as a burden or problem.

Definition in German

jemanden attackieren oder über jemanden hereinbrechen; außerdem: etwas entsteht und fällt jemandem zu

Word origin

Anfallen combines the separable prefix an- with fallen, whose literal sense is 'fall'; the meanings developed from the idea of falling upon someone or becoming their share.

Usage tips

  • As an attack verb, anfallen takes an accusative object, as in 'Der Hund fiel den Postboten an'; in 'Kosten fallen an', the costs are the subject.

Other meanings

  • occurverb
  • accrue to ___verb

Opposites

Related words

  • der Anfallattacknoun
  • anfallartigattack-likeadjective

Word lists with this word