to fail
[verb]
[fa-len, faal-de, ge-faald]
"Falen" – to fail – is the opposite of "slagen": to succeed. However, in the context of failing an exam, you wouldn’t use "falen" but "zakken (voor)", see the Related words.
Sometimes you can translate the infinitive form of the verb "falen", when used as a noun, with "failure", see the third example.
Examples:
– "Ik dacht dat het een eitje was, maar ik heb jammerlijk gefaald…"
("I thought it was a piece of cake, but I failed miserably…")
– "Ik waardeer je inzet, maar als je nog een keer faalt, moet ik je ontslaan."
("I appreciate your effort, but if you fail one more time, I’m going to have to fire you.")
– "Het falen van de regering is een ramp voor het land."
("The government’s failure is a disaster for the country.")
– "James Bond heeft geen last van faalangst."
("James Bond is not afraid of failing." Lit.: "…does not have fear of failure." Note: the idiom "last hebben van" translates literally to "to have burden of" / "to be burdened by".)
Related words:
– Faalangst: fear of failure [noun] [de faalangst, de faalangsten].
– Zakken (voor): to fail <usually an exam> [verb] [zakte (voor), gezakt (voor)].
Example:
– "Hoe vaak ben je al gezakt voor je rijexamen?"
("How many times have you failed your driving test (already)?")
– Mislukken: to fail, to not succeed [verb] [mislukte, mislukt].
– Lukken: to succeed [verb] [lukte, gelukt].