Beschränkten

Beschränkten is a German grammatical form derived from the verb beschränken, which means to limit, constrain, or bound. The stem beschränk- appears in several inflected forms, including both verb tenses and adjectival endings.

As a finite verb form, Beschränkten is the Präteritum (simple past) for the subjects wir, sie, and Sie: wir beschränkten, sie beschränkten, and Sie beschränkten. It is not the past participle; the past participle of beschränken is beschränkt.

As an attributive adjective in plural with definite articles or other determiners, the form beschränkten occurs: die beschränkten Möglichkeiten; im beschränkten Zeitraum. In other contexts the endings follow standard German adjective declension rules (for example, ein beschränkter Zeitraum).

In meaning, beschränken expresses limiting in scope, extent, or duration, both literally and figuratively. In mathematics and related fields, the related adjective beschränkt is used in phrases such as beschränkte Menge, meaning a bounded set.

Etymology and related forms: the word is formed from beschränken with the prefix be- plus the base stem, and the noun Beschränkung denotes the act or state of restriction. The term is common in legal, mathematical, and everyday language, and it integrates smoothly into various syntactic contexts through its verb, adjective, and noun forms.