Vertagen

Vertagen is a German verb meaning to postpone or adjourn a meeting, a court session, a hearing, or a decision to a later date. It is commonly used in legal, administrative, and organizational language, where the postponement is formal or deliberate. Typical objects include the session or hearing itself, as in verlegen? No, vertagen: "Die Sitzung wurde vertagt." and "Wir vertagen die Verhandlung auf nächsten Dienstag."

The phraseology often involves a temporal specification, such as "auf nächste Woche," "auf unbestimmte Zeit," or "bis später." In practice, vertagen implies a planned or decided delay rather than a mere rescheduling to any convenient time. It is sometimes contrasted with verschieben, which is a broader term for moving something to another time and can be less formal, and with aufschieben, which can carry a nuance of delaying for a short time or postponing an obligation.

Grammar and usage notes: vertagen is a transitive verb. In the present tense you would say, for example, "Ich vertage die Sitzung auf Mittwoch," "Du vertagst die Verhandlung," "Die Sitzung wird vertagt" (passive voice). The past tense forms follow regular patterns, e.g., "wir vertagten," and the past participle is "vertagt," as in "Die Sitzung ist vertagt worden" or "Die Sitzung wurde vertagt."

See also: verschieben, aufschieben.