Gehaltenem

Gehaltenem is the declined form of the German past participle gehalten, derived from the verb halten (to hold). It functions as a participial adjective and occurs when the participle modifies a noun in the dative singular, typically in a context with little or no preceding determiner. The ending -em reflects the strong declension pattern used for adjectives in the dative singular without a determiner.

In common usage, gehaltenem appears in phrases describing a state resulting from holding or keeping something. For example, with no article: mit gehaltenem Atem (with breath held) or unter gehaltenem Druck (under held pressure). When the noun is preceded by a definite article, the adjective takes a different, weak-ending form: dem gehaltenen Atem or dem gehaltenen Druck.

Gehaltenem is not a separate word with its own independent meaning; it is the past participle gehalten inflected to agree with the noun in case, gender, and number. Its meaning aligns with the English “held” or “kept” when used attributively, as in descriptions of conditions or states resulting from the act of holding.

Typical contexts for gehaltenem include descriptive phrases in narrative or technical writing, where the author wants to convey a state that has been maintained or preserved up to the present perspective. Its use is largely grammatical, serving to express temporally prior action (holding) as part of a modified noun phrase, rather than as a standalone lexical item.