Gestarten

Gestarten is a nonstandard form of the German verb starten. In standard German, the correct past participle is gestartet, and gestarten is not commonly recognized in major dictionaries. The form is sometimes seen in informal writing or as a mistaken analogy to other verbs that form their past participles with -t, but it is not considered correct in standard language.

Etymology and grammar

The canonical derivation for the verb starten yields the past participle gestartet. The appearance of gestarten arises from a misapplication of regular past-participle formation or from misreading the word stem, and it does not reflect the established pattern of German verb conjugation. Because gestarten is not an accepted standard form, it is generally treated as an error in formal contexts.

Usage and examples

In proper German, you would say: Das System wurde gestartet. Ich habe das Programm gestartet. If you encounter gestarten in text, it should usually be corrected to gestartet or rephrased to avoid the nonstandard form. For nominal statements about the act of starting, use das Starten or der Start, rather than gestarten.

Relation to terminology

Starten is the common verb, while gestartet is the standard past participle. The noun form for the action is das Starten. In technical writing, consistency with established grammar is important, so gestarten should be avoided in favor of gestartet or Starten, depending on the sentence structure.

See also

Starten, gestartet, Start, Starten (nominal).