Eingeschränkte

Eingeschränkte is the inflected form of the German adjective eingeschränkt, meaning restricted or limited. It is used primarily in attributive position before a noun to express that the noun’s scope, rights, or capabilities are limited (for example: eingeschränkte Rechte, eingeschränkte Bewegungsfreiheit).

In grammar, eingeschränkte carries different endings depending on determiner, number, and case. With definite determiners such as der, die, das, the ending is the weak -e in feminine singular (die eingeschränkte Situation) and other related forms, while in plural without a determiner, adjectives take strong endings (eingeschränkte Möglichkeiten). The exact form therefore varies: die eingeschränkte Situation (feminine singular, nominative/accusative with a definite article) versus eingeschränkte Möglichkeiten (plural without article). The word can also occur with other determiners in corresponding forms.

Semantically, eingeschränkte describes something that is not fully open or entire, i.e., limited in scope, access, or function. It is common in legal, administrative, medical, and everyday language to describe constraints or reductions, such as eingeschränkter Zugang (restricted access), eingeschränkte Privatsphäre (limited privacy), or eingeschränkte Beweglichkeit (restricted mobility). It forms a contrast to unbeschränkte or uneingeschränkte, meaning unrestricted or unlimited.

Etymology: it comes from the verb einschränken (‘to restrict’) through the past participle eingeschränkt, used as an adjective in its inflected form eingeschränkte. This usage is common across German-speaking contexts to convey partial limitation rather than a complete negation.