jemandem geht ein Licht auf
the penny drops; to suddenly understand
Origin
Based on the universal metaphor of light (insight as light); it appears already in the Bible (Matthew 4:16: "… a light has dawned").
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Grammar that uses this word
- Pronoun 'er' (he/it, nominative)Pronomen 'er' (Nominativ)
- Pronoun 'sie' (she/it, singular, nominative)Pronomen 'sie' (Singular, Nominativ)
- Pronoun 'ihr' (you all, informal, nominative)Pronomen 'ihr' (Nominativ)
- Question word 'wie' (how, manner)Fragewort 'wie' (Art und Weise)
- Separable prefix 'an-' (ankommen, to arrive)Trennbares Präfix 'an-' (ankommen)
- Separable prefix 'aus-' (ausgehen, to go out)Trennbares Präfix 'aus-' (ausgehen)
Examples
Nach der dritten ging ihm ein auf.
After the third explanation, the penny finally dropped for him.