A legal case, a medical case, a worst-case scenario—or even just someone taking a tumble. In German, they all go by the same name: Fall. It’s short, strong, and everywhere.
The noun Fall means case, instance, situation, or fall (as in dropping or decline). It’s one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German, and it appears in law, medicine, language, emergencies, and everyday speech.
It’s a masculine noun, so we say der Fall.
Pronunciation
Fall is pronounced [fahl], rhyming with “tall,” but with a short, open a like in “father.”
- It’s one clean syllable—no frills, no fluff.
- The “l” is soft and firm.
It sounds like a drop—quick, decisive, and to the point.
Example sentences:
- Der Fall wurde noch nicht gelöst.
The case hasn’t been solved yet. - Im schlimmsten Fall regnet es die ganze Woche.
In the worst case, it’ll rain all week.
Nuance and usage tips
Fall is used in several core senses:
- Legal / investigative case
- Kriminalfall – criminal case
- Mordfall – murder case
- Fall XY – Case X-Y (as in TV crime reports)
- Medical / emergency case
- Notfall – emergency
- Erkrankungsfall – illness case
- Linguistic case (grammar)
- Nominativ, Genitiv, Dativ, Akkusativ – the four Fälle (cases)
- Abstract situation or condition
- im besten / schlimmsten Fall – in the best / worst case
- für alle Fälle – just in case
- je nach Fall – depending on the situation
- Literal fall or drop
- ein tiefer Fall – a deep fall
- der Fall des Apfels vom Baum – the fall of the apple from the tree
Its antonyms vary by meaning:
- For fall: Aufstieg (ascent, rise)
- For case: no strict antonym, but Lösung (solution) might contrast a problem case
Grammatical case examples:
- Nominative:
Der Fall wurde der Polizei gemeldet.
The case was reported to the police. - Accusative:
Wir analysieren den Fall sorgfältig.
We are analyzing the case carefully. - Dative:
Mit dem Fall befasst sich ein Spezialteam.
A special team is dealing with the case. - Genitive:
Wegen des Falls wurden neue Regeln eingeführt.
Because of the case, new rules were introduced.
Masculine case pattern: der, den, dem, des
Word variations and language tidbits
Variation Station:
- Unfall – accident (literally “un-fall”)
- Notfall – emergency
- Zweifelsfall – doubtful case
- Ernstfall – serious case
- Fälligkeit – due date (more abstract noun from the same root)
Fun grammatical note:
When you study German grammar, Fall becomes your daily companion:
- im Nominativfall – in the nominative case
- vier Fälle – the four grammatical cases
In this context, Fall refers to how a noun “falls into” a different role in the sentence—subject, object, etc.
📘 Duden entry: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Fall
🎥 Learn Fall and the rest of the top 1000 German nouns in our free online video course:
https://deutschable.com/nouns/
Alternate translations note:
For a situation or scenario, Lage or Situation can sometimes be used, but Fall is more idiomatic and compact. For a literal fall, Sturz is a more medical or dramatic word, but Fall is still very common. For grammar learners: yes, Fall means grammatical case, too—so get used to it!
Ready for two more German words of the day? Do you know how to say fact or impression in German?