Abgelenkte

Abgelenkte is the attributive form of the past participle abgelenkt, derived from the verb ablenken in German. It is used as an adjective meaning “distracted” or “diverted” and describes a noun whose attention, focus, or direction has been redirected by something. The form itself does not constitute a separate lexical item; its meaning arises from the participle plus its grammatical ending.

Morphology and inflection

Abgelenkte changes its ending according to gender, number, case, and the surrounding article. With a definite article, examples include der abgelenkte Blick (masc, nominative singular) and die abgelenkte Aufmerksamkeit (fem, nominative singular). With an indefinite article, you have eine abgelenkte Aufmerksamkeit (fem, nom.sg) or ein abgelenkter Blick (masc, nom.sg). In neuter singular you would encounter ein abgelenktes Phänomen, and in plural forms die abgelenkten Blicke or die abgelenkten Informationen. In short, the ending -e is typical for feminine singular with a definite article, while other combinations require -er, -es, or -en endings depending on the case and article.

Usage

The common collocations include abgelenkte Aufmerksamkeit, abgelenkter Blick, abgelenktes Phänomen and related phrases. The adjective typically emphasizes that something’s attention or focus has been diverted by external factors. It is distinct from the predicative participle abgelenkt, which appears after a linking verb (Die Aufmerksamkeit ist abgelenkt) rather than directly modifying a noun.

Nominalization

In rare stylistic uses, das Abgelenkte can function as a nominalized form referring to the concept of distraction itself, though this is uncommon in everyday language.