Gefahrenen

Gefahrenen is the attributive form of the past participle ge­fahren (to travel, to drive) used as an adjective in German. It does not stand alone as a noun; rather, it modifies a plural noun related to travel, routes, or traversal. The form is most common in contexts such as transportation, navigation, or travel reporting.

Declension and usage notes: In plural with a definite determiner (such as die, jene, meine), ge­fahrenen takes the weak ending -en: die gefahrenen Wege, die gefahrenen Routen. Without a definite determiner, the strong declension yields gefahrene Wege, gefahrene Routen. With possessives or determiners other than the definite article, the ending aligns with the same pattern (meine gefahrenen Wege, diese gefahrenen Strecken). The base meaning remains “traveled” or “traversed,” distinguishing it from untraveled or planned routes.

Examples:

- Die gefahrenen Wege wurden nach Sturmschäden gesperrt.

- Wir bevorzugten die gefahrenen Routen, die als sicherer galten.

- Der Bericht listet die gefahrenen Strecken und deren Dauer auf.

Usage considerations: ge­fahrenen primarily appears in descriptive or technical writing about travel, logistics, or geography. It is derived from ge­genüber dem Verb fahren, and its interpretation hinges on the accompanying noun (Weg, Route, Strecke, Pfad).

See also: German participial adjectives, past participles used attributively, German declension patterns for adjectives with definite and indefinite determiners.