Festlegte

Festlegte is a German form related to the verb festlegen, which means to determine, fix, or establish something. The root fest- conveys firmness, combined with legen (to place). In standard German, festlegen is a separable-prefix verb, and its past tense is formed as legte fest for the third person singular and other subjects (for example, er legte fest; wir legten fest). The past participle is festgelegt. Therefore, festlegte as a single word is not a conventional inflected form in modern usage; it may appear as a misspelling or in older texts.

The term is used in legal, administrative, and planning contexts to describe a decision or determination that was made previously. It often appears in narratives or reports recounting what was decided. For example, der Vorstand legte den Termin fest (the board set the date). Similarly, sie legte fest, dass der Vertrag weiter gilt (she determined that the contract remains valid). When forming the perfect tense, the correct construction is hat festgelegt (not festlegte). As an adjective, the past participle festgelegt can modify nouns, yielding phrases like festgelegte Regeln (established rules).

Related forms include festlegen (the infinitive), Festlegung (the act or result of determining), and Festsetzung (the setting or determination of terms). The term is common in formal writing and discussions about decisions, schedules, and rules.

See also: festlegen, Festlegung, Festsetzung.