Ergriffen

Ergriffen is a German participle and adjective formed from the verb ergreifen. It has two primary senses and can function in different grammatical ways: as a past participle in perfect tenses and as an adjective or predicative expression.

The first sense is emotional: ergriffen describes a person or audience that is deeply moved or touched. It is commonly used with verbs like sein or bleiben, or in predicates such as “von der Rede ergriffen” or “das Publikum war ergriffen.” In this usage it conveys a strong emotional impact and is similar in meaning to words like gerührt or berührt.

The second sense relates to seizing or capturing: ergriffen expresses that someone or something has been grasped, caught, or arrested. It occurs in transitive constructions with haben: “Die Polizei hat den Verdächtigen ergriffen.” It can also appear in phrases describing the act of seizing opportunities: “die Gelegenheit ergreifen,” where ergreifen is the verb and ergriffen is its past participle in compound tenses, e.g., “Er hat die Gelegenheit ergriffen.”

Etymologically, ergriffen comes from ergreifen, a prefixal composite of er- with greifen (to seize, grasp). The term can be used attributively or predicatively; in the predicative use it often describes a state (ergriffen) rather than an action, while in the participial use it refers to a completed action (ergriffen). Distinct but related terms include gerührt (emotionally moved) and ergreifen (to seize or apprehend).

In usage, context usually clarifies whether ergriffen refers to emotion or to capture, assessment or opportunity.