Questions & Answers about Das Fest war gelungen.
In German, every noun has a grammatical gender that you just have to learn with the word.
- Fest (celebration, festival) is neuter, so it always takes the article das in the singular:
- das Fest – the celebration / festival
- ein Fest – a celebration / festival
Other forms:
- Plural: die Feste (no article change for gender, only for number)
- In cases:
- Nominative: das Fest ist schön – the celebration is nice
- Accusative: Ich liebe das Fest – I love the celebration
There is no logical rule that makes it neuter; it’s just a property of the word and must be memorized: das Fest.
All three are about some kind of celebration, but the nuance differs:
das Fest
- Fairly general word: celebration, festival, feast
- Can be small or big, but often sounds a bit more formal or neutral.
- Examples:
- Das Schulfest – the school festival
- Weihnachtsfest – Christmas celebration
die Feier
- Focuses on the act of celebrating (often tied to a specific occasion).
- Slightly more formal than "Party".
- Examples:
- Geburtstagsfeier – birthday celebration
- Abschiedsfeier – farewell celebration
die Party
- Mostly like English “party”, often informal, social get-together.
- Especially common for younger people, house parties, etc.
In your sentence, Das Fest war gelungen, you could sometimes also hear:
- Die Feier war gelungen. – The celebration was a success.
- Die Party war gelungen. – The party was a success.
They’re close in meaning, but Fest sounds a bit more neutral or “event-like” than Party.
war is the simple past (Präteritum) form of sein (to be):
- ich war – I was
- du warst – you were
- er/sie/es war – he/she/it was
- wir waren – we were
- ihr wart – you (pl.) were
- sie/Sie waren – they / you (formal) were
So Das Fest war gelungen is in the past tense:
- Literally: The celebration was successful.
You would use ist in the present:
- Das Fest ist gelungen. – The celebration is (has turned out) successful.
(This can sound like you’re speaking about it while it’s still ongoing or very shortly after.)
In storytelling or reporting about something that already happened and is clearly over, war is the normal choice.
gelungen comes from the verb gelingen (to succeed, to turn out well). Formally, gelungen is the past participle of gelingen:
- gelingen – gelang – ist gelungen
In your sentence Das Fest war gelungen, this participle is used like an adjective in a predicate after the verb sein:
- Subject: Das Fest
- Verb: war
- Predicative adjective/participle: gelungen
So grammatically, it behaves like an adjective in predicate position: no ending after sein:
- Das Fest war gelungen. – The celebration was successful.
- Die Party war gelungen. – The party was successful.
- Das Essen war gelungen. – The food was a success / turned out well.
If you put it before a noun, it takes endings like a normal adjective:
- ein gelungenes Fest – a successful celebration
- eine gelungene Party – a successful party
- das gelungene Essen – the successful meal (the meal that turned out well)
Both can translate to “successful”, but they have different typical uses and nuances.
gelungen
- Often means “turned out well / came off well”.
- Very common for events, performances, pieces of work:
- Ein gelungenes Fest – a well-done / very nice celebration
- Ein gelungener Abend – a great evening
- Eine gelungene Rede – a well-delivered speech
It often includes the idea that people enjoyed it or that it was done with skill and taste.
erfolgreich
- More literal “successful in terms of results/achievement”.
- Often used with:
- Projects, businesses, people’s careers, exams:
- ein erfolgreiches Unternehmen – a successful company
- eine erfolgreiche Prüfung – a successful exam (you passed)
- Er ist sehr erfolgreich. – He is very successful.
- Projects, businesses, people’s careers, exams:
In Das Fest war gelungen, erfolgreich would sound a bit too business-like or result-focused. gelungen is more natural and idiomatic to say the party was really good / turned out nicely.
Grammatically, ist gelungen gewesen is possible (it’s a kind of past perfect form), but in this context it is:
- Very unusual, and
- Usually unnecessary or stylistically awkward.
Native speakers would almost always say:
- Das Fest war gelungen. – normal, natural past description
or, in a different context: - Das Fest ist gelungen. – saying it while or right after it happens
The form ist gelungen gewesen would only appear in very specific, more complex narratives where you need a past-before-past contrast, and even there, many people would avoid it in favor of simpler forms.
For everyday German in sentences like this, stick with:
- Das Fest war gelungen.
In Das Fest war gelungen, gelungen is in predicate position after the verb sein (“to be”).
Adjectives (or participles used like adjectives) in predicate position do not take endings in German:
- Das Fest ist schön. (not schönes)
- Die Party war laut. (not laute)
- Das Essen war lecker.
So similarly:
- Das Fest war gelungen.
- Die Party war gelungen.
- Das Essen war gelungen.
You only add adjective endings when the adjective is directly before a noun:
- ein gelungenes Fest
- die gelungene Party
- das gelungene Essen
gelingen means roughly “to succeed”, “to work out well”, “to turn out well”.
It’s used without a direct object, and it takes “sein” as its auxiliary in the perfect.
Principal parts:
- gelingen – gelang – ist gelungen
Typical pattern:
- Etwas gelingt (jemandem). – Something succeeds / works (for someone).
Examples:
- Der Plan ist gelungen. – The plan succeeded.
- Der Kuchen ist mir gut gelungen. – The cake turned out well (for me).
- Die Überraschung ist ihnen gelungen. – The surprise worked out well for them.
Your sentence is slightly different: instead of “X succeeded”, it says “X was successful”:
- Das Fest war gelungen. – The celebration had turned out well / was a success.
So here you see gelingen indirectly, in its participle form gelungen used as an adjective.
Yes, Das Fest war ein Erfolg is perfectly correct and natural.
Meaning comparison:
Das Fest war gelungen.
- Emphasizes that the event turned out very nicely, it was well done, people likely enjoyed it.
- Slightly more idiomatic / ‘emotional’.
Das Fest war ein Erfolg.
- More literally: “The celebration was a success.”
- Can sound a bit more factual or result-focused, depending on context:
- Maybe many people came, you reached your goal (e.g., fundraising), etc.
In everyday conversation, both are common.
Often, war gelungen sounds a bit more about the quality and atmosphere, while war ein Erfolg can sound a bit more about achieving goals / results.
Yes, Das Fest gelang is grammatically correct, but it’s less common and sounds more literary or old-fashioned in modern German.
- Das Fest gelang. – The celebration succeeded. (somewhat formal / bookish)
- Das Fest war gelungen. – The celebration was successful / turned out well. (very idiomatic, everyday)
In spoken, everyday German, people strongly prefer:
- Das Fest war gelungen.
You will mostly see gelang in written narrative or more literary texts, not in casual conversation.