gehen ("to go") and stehen ("to stand") look like simple motion-and-posture verbs, but their idioms drift far from those English meanings. The first thing German does with gehen is the impersonal construction: Wie geht es dir? ("How are you?") has nothing to do with going anywhere. The second is es geht um ("it's about / it concerns"), the standard way to say what a text or matter is about. stehen delivers the high-value dative idiom das steht dir gut ("that suits you"). This page collects the idioms where mapping these verbs onto English "go" and "stand" will lead you astray.
Impersonal gehen: Wie geht's?
The most frequent gehen of all is impersonal: es geht + a dative experiencer, used to ask and report how someone is. Literally "how goes it to-you," it has drifted into "how are you." The person is in the dative (mir, dir, Ihnen), and es is the dummy subject.
— Wie geht es dir? — Danke, mir geht es gut.
— How are you? — Thanks, I'm well.
Meiner Oma geht es nach der Operation schon viel besser.
My grandma is doing much better after the operation.
es geht alone, without gut/schlecht, means "it's okay / so-so" or "it works":
— Und, wie läuft's mit dem neuen Job? — Ach, es geht so.
— So how's the new job going? — Eh, so-so.
es geht um: what something is about
This is the construction competitors skip and learners desperately need. es geht um + accusative = "it is about / it concerns." When you summarise a book, film, email, or dispute, this is the idiom — not a literal translation of "about."
In dem Roman geht es um eine Familie nach dem Krieg.
The novel is about a family after the war.
Worum geht es in der Besprechung?
What's the meeting about?
Es geht hier nicht ums Geld, sondern ums Prinzip.
This isn't about money, it's about the principle.
Note worum (the wo(r)- question form for um) and the contraction ums (= um das). The whole frame is impersonal: the topic is the accusative object of um, and es holds the subject slot.
das geht (nicht): that works / doesn't
das geht judges whether something is possible or acceptable — "that works / that's doable," with the negative das geht nicht = "that's not on / can't be done."
— Können wir das Treffen auf morgen verschieben? — Ja, das geht.
— Can we move the meeting to tomorrow? — Yes, that works.
So geht das nicht, du musst dich erst anmelden.
That's not how it works, you have to register first.
Motion uses and the kaputt-family
gehen does of course keep literal "go," especially in chained activity verbs and zu Fuß:
Wir gehen heute Abend schwimmen, kommst du mit?
We're going swimming tonight, do you want to come?
Bei dem Wetter gehe ich lieber zu Fuß.
In this weather I'd rather walk (go on foot).
And gehen is the second part of a productive family of "go wrong / break" compounds. These all use gehen because the object goes into a bad state:
| Compound | English |
|---|---|
| kaputtgehen | to break, stop working |
| verlorengehen | to get lost |
| schiefgehen | to go wrong |
| aufgehen | to open / rise (sun, dough) |
| in die Hose gehen (informal) | to go pear-shaped, flop |
Mein Handy ist gestern kaputtgegangen.
My phone broke yesterday.
There is also the vivid jdm auf die Nerven gehen — "to get on someone's nerves":
Die laute Musik geht mir langsam auf die Nerven.
The loud music is starting to get on my nerves.
stehen idioms: das steht dir gut
stehen literally "to stand," but its prize idiom is jdm gut stehen = "to suit someone" (of clothes, colours, styles). It takes a dative person — the thing that suits is the subject, the person is dative.
Das blaue Kleid steht dir wirklich gut.
The blue dress really suits you.
Der neue Bart steht ihm überhaupt nicht.
The new beard doesn't suit him at all.
A second cluster uses stehen for being in a state or position — note these are largely fixed:
| Idiom | English |
|---|---|
| zur Verfügung stehen | to be available |
| unter Druck stehen | to be under pressure |
| im Stau stehen | to be stuck in traffic |
| Schlange stehen | to queue / stand in line |
| auf dem Spiel stehen | to be at stake |
| im Mittelpunkt stehen | to be the centre of attention |
| zu jdm stehen | to stand by someone |
Für weitere Fragen stehe ich Ihnen gerne zur Verfügung.
I'm happy to be available for any further questions.
Wir standen zwei Stunden im Stau.
We were stuck in traffic for two hours.
And the everyday stehen of information and scores: Es steht in der Zeitung ("it's in the paper") and Wie steht's? ("what's the score? / how's it going?").
Das steht doch in der Zeitung, hast du es nicht gelesen?
It's in the paper — didn't you read it?
— Wie steht's? — Zwei zu eins für uns.
— What's the score? — Two-one to us.
Common Mistakes
❌ Wie gehst du?
Wrong — 'How are you?' is impersonal: Wie geht es dir?
✅ Wie geht es dir?
How are you?
❌ Mich geht es gut.
Wrong case — the experiencer is dative, not accusative.
✅ Mir geht es gut.
I'm well.
❌ Das Buch ist über eine Familie.
Understandable, but unidiomatic; German uses es geht um for 'is about'.
✅ In dem Buch geht es um eine Familie.
The book is about a family.
❌ Das Kleid steht dich gut.
Wrong case — gut stehen takes a dative person.
✅ Das Kleid steht dir gut.
The dress suits you.
❌ Ich bin gut. (meaning 'I'm fine')
Wrong sense — 'gut sein' is 'be good (at)', not 'be well'.
✅ Mir geht es gut.
I'm well / I'm fine.
Key Takeaways
- Wie geht es dir? is impersonal gehen with a dative experiencer — never Wie gehst du? and never Ich bin gut for wellbeing.
- es geht um
- accusative is the standard "it's about / it concerns": In dem Film geht es um ….
- das geht / das geht nicht judges possibility ("that works / that can't be done").
- gehen builds the "go wrong" family: kaputtgehen, schiefgehen, verlorengehen.
- stehen delivers the dative gem das steht dir gut ("that suits you"), plus fixed states like zur Verfügung / unter Druck / im Stau stehen.
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- gehen: Full Conjugation and UsageA1 — Complete conjugation of the strong verb gehen 'to go (on foot)' across every tense and mood, with the sein auxiliary, the Es geht idioms, principal parts, and the errors English speakers make.
- stehen: Full Conjugation and UsageA2 — Complete conjugation of stehen 'to stand / to be located (upright)' across every tense and mood, with principal parts, the two-way dative location pattern, the stehen–stellen pair, idioms, and the errors English speakers make.
- Impersonal Verbs and es-SubjectsB1 — Verbs that take the dummy subject es, and why German says 'to me it is cold' instead of 'I am cold.'
- The Dative of Interest and Free DativesB2 — The 'free' datives that aren't required by the verb — dative of interest, the possessive dative with body parts, and the ethical dative.
- Expressions with machenA2 — The do-it-all verb machen and its dozens of fixed idioms — from Pause machen to Das macht nichts and Mach's gut.
- Expressions with geben and es gibtB1 — The invariable es gibt + accusative ('there is/are'), plus the rich family of geben idioms from Bescheid geben to das gibt's doch nicht!