Sinkende

Sinkende is a German adjective form derived from the verb sinken (to sink or to decline). It is most commonly used as a present participle functioning as an attributive adjective, describing something that is in the process of decreasing or lowering. Examples include sinkende Preise (falling prices) and sinkende Temperaturen (decreasing temperatures). It can also describe a physical descent, as in ein sinkendes Schiff (a sinking ship). The form is used before nouns and follows standard German adjective declension. The base noun form from this root is das Sinken, which denotes the act of sinking or decline.

Etymology: sinkende traces to the verb sinken in German, itself from a Germanic origin meaning to go down.

In other Germanic languages, cognate forms exist; for instance Norwegian uses sinkende similarly as the present participle of synke.

In usage, sinkende is common in economics, meteorology, and everyday description of trends or processes. It should not be confused with gesunken (the past participle) or sinkend in more literary contexts; the participle form sinkend is also used to describe ongoing processes, while sinkende is the attributive form before nouns in most standard phrases.

See also: das Sinken, die Senkung, sinken.