German word of the day: Klappen

Why do I need to know klappen?

More than simply an action word for closing something with a solid click, or clap, klappen is among those German verbs with a few different meanings – one being much more obvious than the others.

Whether you want to tell someone to shut the door, describe the fluttering sounds of a pigeon’s wings or simply agree to plan for the weekend, it’ll help to know the ins and outs of klappen.

What does it mean?

Klappen, pronounced like this, has at least three distinct meanings. But all of them are somewhat related to the definition that will probably be most obvious to English speakers, which is that klappen basically means to make a clapping sound.

As opposed to the verb ‘to clap’, which is klatschen (‘Clap your hands’ in German is in die Hände klatschen), klappen refers more specifically to the sound that is made. So it translates to something like ‘to clatter or rattle’. For example, when a door is repeatedly knocking against a wall, you can say, ‘Die Tür klappt gegen die Wand.’ 

Similarly, when a bird makes flapping sounds with its wings, you’d say ‘Der Vogel klappt mit den Flügeln.’

READ ALSO: German word of the day - Klasse

Building on that, the next meaning for klappen is basically to close something that makes a clapping sound.

So you can tell someone to ‘shut the window’ (das Fenster klappen), ‘close a [folding] chair’ (klappen den Stuhl zusammen), or even close a lid (den deckel klappen).

Notice that klappen stands in for a number of different English verbs in these examples: shut, fold, close, etc. As long as the closing action results in a click or clap sound, however, klappen makes sense.

But wait, I've heard klappen used another way...

There is indeed common meaning of klappen - and this one is a bit less intuitive for English speakers. The word is also used to express agreement or to say something ‘works well’.

E.g. if something will work out well you can say, ‘es wird schon klappen’, or if something will not work you could instead say, ‘es wird nicht klappen' or simply, 'es klappt nicht'. 

It’s perhaps a clunky comparison, but it may be helpful to think that in German agreeable things are those that ‘clap good’. In other words, agreeable plans are worthy of applause.

To give a colloquial example, if someone suggests plans for the weekend at a time and place that works for you, you could simply reply, 'Das klappt'.

Use it like this:

Hat es geklappt?

Did it work? 

Ich habe versucht, mit ihm zu treffen, aber es hat nicht geklappt.

I tried to meet him but it didn’t work out.

Wenn man keine guten Kontakte hat, klappt nichts.

If you don’t have good contacts, nothing works.