German verb · CEFR B1

schaffen

Meaning in English: manage, make it; create

Rank 571 of 5,000verbLevel B15 forms in the list
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Example

Keine Sorge, wir schaffen das schon!

Don't worry, we'll manage!

Forms of schaffen in the top 5,000

German verbs change their ending with the person and tense, and each form is counted on its own. These forms of schaffen are also in the top 5,000:

geschaffen#1,510
createdB2

Die Stadt hat neue Radwege geschaffen.
The town has created new cycle paths.

schafft#1,633
manages, createsA2

Er schafft es nie, pünktlich zu sein.
He never manages to be on time.

geschafft#2,184
managed, made it (past participle)A2

Geschafft! Die Prüfung ist endlich vorbei.
Done it! The exam is finally over.

schaffte#4,493
managed, made itB1

Er schaffte die Prüfung beim ersten Versuch.
He passed the exam at the first attempt.

How common is schaffen?

schaffen is number 571 of the 5,000 most common German words. In the texts the list is counted from it appears 154 times per million words — about once every 6,500 words.

Know every word down to this one and you recognise about 59% of the words in an ordinary German text. B1 means an intermediate word, typical of the B1 exam.

Next to it in the frequency list

  1. 567häufigfrequent(ly), often
  2. 568sagensay, tell
  3. 569großbig, large, tall
  4. 570der Trainercoach, trainer
  5. 571schaffenmanage, make it; create
  6. 572informiereninform
  7. 573ganzewhole, entire
  8. 574wolltewanted
  9. 575die Musikmusic

In these word lists

Translations, levels and examples were written with AI help and are awaiting review by a native speaker — how the list was made.