verb
to please, to fall
A1
gefallen commonly means 'to please' (mir gefällt das Buch) and behaves differently from fallen. It’s a strong irregular verb with stem-vowel alternation (gefäll- / gefiel). As 'to please' it uses haben in the perfect (hat gefallen). The past participle 'gefallen' is also from 'fallen' and used with sein.
Examples
Das Buch gefällt mir.
I like the book.
Das neue Design gefiel den Kunden, obwohl es deutlich teurer als das alte Modell gewesen war.
The new design pleased the customers, although it had been significantly more expensive than the old model.
Das Buch hat mir sehr gefallen.
I really liked the book.
Details
Mnemonics
Picture someone smiling because something 'falls well' into place — it pleases them
sounds like 'gee-FALL-en' → 'to fall' (but common meaning 'to please')
Notes
Commonly used in the impersonal construction 'mir gefällt ...' meaning 'I like ...'. Also literally means 'to fall' in other contexts (see note). As a lemma, treat 'gefallen' (to please) with auxiliary haben. The participle 'gefallen' is also the past participle of 'fallen' (to fall) and in that sense is used with sein (z. B. Der Apfel ist gefallen). Passive forms for intransitive 'fallen' are generally non-standard. Imperative forms are uncommon and are treated as not applicable in this entry.