Gebliebene

Ge blieben e is the attributive form of the past participle bleiben in German, meaning “remaining” or “left over.” It is used as an adjective to describe what persists or stayed behind after an action, event, or change. The word derives from bleiben, with the usual ge- prefix forming the participle geblie b en, and it takes normal adjective endings when it precedes a noun.

As an attributive adjective, gebliebene agrees with the noun it modifies. Common patterns include:

- feminine singular: gebliebene Frau

- masculine singular: gebliebener Mann

- neuter singular: gebliebenes Stück

- plural (any gender): gebliebene Stücke

In short, gebliebene is used before feminine singular nouns or before plural nouns, while other gender-number combinations use gebliebener, gebliebenes, or the appropriate strong-ending form.

In addition to its adjectival use, gebliebene can be nominalized to refer to people who remained. In this sense, the capitalized forms Gebliebene or Gebliebenen appear, for example: die Gebliebenen (the survivors) or der Gebliebene (the one who stayed). The choice between Gebliebene and Gebliebenen reflects standard German nominalization inflection for plural or singular reference.

Usage notes and nuance:

- gebliebene often emphasizes what remains after a process of reduction, loss, or departure.

- It is common in everyday language as well as in formal writing, including narratives and descriptions of outcomes, leftovers, or survivors.

- The neuter singular form is geflieben with the ending geschrieben as gebliebenes Stück; other forms follow regular adjective declension patterns.

See also: Bleiben, Partizip II used as adjectives, nominalized participles.