Gefallen ("to please, to be pleasing to") is the standard German way to say you like something — and it works backwards from English. Where English says "I like the book", German says Das Buch gefällt mir — literally "the book is pleasing to me". The thing you like is the grammatical subject, and you are a dative experiencer. This flip trips up every English speaker for months, so internalize it now: with gefallen, the liked thing does the action, and the liker is in the dative. Gefallen is a strong, inseparable verb (prefix ge-), so its Partizip II is gefallen with no extra ge-, and it forms the Perfekt with haben.
Principal parts
| Infinitive | Präteritum | Partizip II (auxiliary) |
|---|---|---|
| gefallen | gefiel | gefallen (hat) |
Read this as gefallen – gefiel – hat gefallen. The infinitive and participle are identical (gefallen) — because the prefix ge- is itself the inseparable prefix, you do not add a second ge-. The auxiliary is haben.
Präsens (present)
Because the thing is the subject, the form you use almost always is the third person — gefällt (singular) or gefallen (plural). And here a vowel change does appear: the strong shift a → ä in the du- and er-forms (gefällst, gefällt). The full paradigm exists, but you will rarely need the first/second person of gefallen as the actor.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | gefalle |
| du | gefällst |
| er / sie / es | gefällt |
| wir | gefallen |
| ihr | gefallt |
| sie / Sie | gefallen |
Das Bild gefällt mir.
I like the picture. (literally: the picture is pleasing to me; neutral)
Die neuen Schuhe gefallen ihr überhaupt nicht.
She doesn't like the new shoes at all. (plural subject Schuhe → gefallen; informal)
Präteritum (simple past)
The vowel shifts to ie, giving the stem gefiel-. As a verb of liking, gefiel is common even in spoken narration.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| ich | gefiel |
| du | gefielst |
| er / sie / es | gefiel |
| wir | gefielen |
| ihr | gefielt |
| sie / Sie | gefielen |
Der Film gefiel uns allen sehr gut.
We all liked the film a lot. (literally: the film pleased us all; neutral)
Perfekt (present perfect)
Built with haben + gefallen. Note again: the participle is just gefallen, no doubled ge-.
| Person (subject = the liked thing) | Form |
|---|---|
| es / das (singular) | hat gefallen |
| sie / die (plural) | haben gefallen |
Hat dir das Konzert gefallen?
Did you like the concert? (literally: did the concert please you?; informal)
Mir hat die Reise sehr gut gefallen.
I really liked the trip. (neutral)
Plusquamperfekt and Futur I
Past perfect: hatte gefallen. Future: wird gefallen (third person). These are used exactly as in English, just with the dative-experiencer frame.
Das Geschenk hatte ihr so gut gefallen, dass sie es jahrelang aufhob.
She had liked the gift so much that she kept it for years.
Ich bin sicher, das Lied wird euch gefallen.
I'm sure you'll like the song. (informal plural euch)
Imperativ
The imperative is essentially unused in the "liking" sense (you cannot command something to please someone). It does appear in the reflexive idiom sich etwas gefallen lassen (see below): Lass dir das nicht gefallen! ("Don't put up with that!").
Lass dir das nicht gefallen!
Don't put up with that! / Don't stand for that! (sich etwas gefallen lassen; informal)
Konjunktiv II (would please / pleased, hypothetical)
The synthetic Konjunktiv II is gefiele (umlaut-free, since ie is already a front vowel). The würde-form is also heard.
| Subject | Synthetic | würde-form |
|---|---|---|
| es / das (sg.) | gefiele | würde gefallen |
| sie / die (pl.) | gefielen | würden gefallen |
Ein bisschen mehr Farbe würde mir besser gefallen.
A bit more color would please me more. / I'd like it better with a bit more color. (informal)
The dative-experiencer logic, explained
In English the liker is the subject and the liked thing is the object: "I like jazz." German reverses the roles for gefallen: the liked thing becomes the subject (it does the "pleasing"), and the experiencer takes the dative. This is the same construction English once had in "it pleases me" / "methinks". So you must track two things:
- The verb agrees with the liked thing: Das Buch gefällt / Die Bücher gefallen.
- The experiencer is dative: mir, dir, ihm/ihr, uns, euch, ihnen, Ihnen — never the accusative mich, dich.
Wie gefällt dir Berlin?
How do you like Berlin? (literally: how does Berlin please you?; informal)
Es gefällt mir hier.
I like it here. (the placeholder es is the subject; neutral)
gefallen vs. mögen vs. gernhaben vs. schmecken
German splits "like" by what is liked. Gefallen = to find appealing on first impression, especially by sight or sound (a picture, a song, a city) — dative experiencer. Mögen = a steadier liking, and it works the English way (Ich mag Jazz, with an accusative object) — see mögen. Gernhaben / gern haben = to be fond of (people). Schmecken = to like the taste of food, again with a dative experiencer (Das Essen schmeckt mir) — see schmecken. Choosing gefallen for food or mögen for a first glance both sound off to native ears.
Das Kleid gefällt mir, aber tragen würde ich es nicht.
I like the dress (the look of it), but I wouldn't wear it. (gefallen = visual appeal)
Common idioms and fixed expressions
| Expression | English |
|---|---|
| sich etwas gefallen lassen | to put up with something, to stand for it |
| Das gefällt mir (gar) nicht. | I don't like that (at all). (often about a situation) |
| Wie gefällt es dir? | How do you like it? |
| Das könnte mir gefallen. | I could get to like that. |
| Gefällt dir das so? | Are you happy with it this way? |
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich gefalle das Buch.
Reversed roles — with gefallen, the liked thing is the subject and the liker is dative. You can't be the subject here.
✅ Das Buch gefällt mir.
I like the book.
❌ Das Buch gefällt mich.
Wrong case — the experiencer is dative (mir), never accusative (mich).
✅ Das Buch gefällt mir.
I like the book.
❌ Die Schuhe gefällt mir.
Agreement error — the subject is plural (Schuhe), so the verb is gefallen, not gefällt.
✅ Die Schuhe gefallen mir.
I like the shoes.
❌ Das Essen gefällt mir.
Wrong verb — for liking the taste of food, German uses schmecken, not gefallen.
✅ Das Essen schmeckt mir.
I like the food (the taste).
Key Takeaways
- Principal parts: gefallen – gefiel – hat gefallen (auxiliary haben).
- Inseparable ge- prefix → participle is just gefallen, no doubled ge-.
- The liked thing is the subject; the verb agrees with it (gefällt / gefallen).
- The liker is dative (mir, dir, ihm…), never accusative.
- Present shows the strong a → ä shift (gefällst, gefällt); past stem is gefiel.
- Use gefallen for visual/audible appeal; mögen for steady liking; schmecken for food.
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