jemandem begegnen
English meaning: “I ran into Richard. / I bumped into Richard” — as used in FRIENDS.
🇩🇪 GERMAN WITH FRIENDS ☕️
Monica unexpectedly runs into Richard after a long time 😳
Later, when she tells the others what happened, she says:
💬 Ich bin Richard begegnet.
🇬🇧 I ran into Richard. / I bumped into Richard.
🔍 jemandem begegnen
This means to run into someone or to meet someone by chance, usually when you didn’t plan to see them.
💬 Ich bin gestern meinem alten Lehrer begegnet.
🇬🇧 I ran into my old teacher yesterday.
💬 Wir sind uns zufällig in der Stadt begegnet.
🇬🇧 We ran into each other by chance in the city.
💬 Bist du ihm schon einmal begegnet?
🇬🇧 Have you ever run into him before?
✨ Important grammar point:
begegnen takes the dative case:
Ich begegne ihm.
👉 I run into him.
Ich bin Richard begegnet.
👉 I ran into Richard.
And if you want to emphasize that it happened by chance, this combination is very natural:
jemandem zufällig begegnen
👉 to run into someone by chance
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People also ask
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