Vorgestellte

Vorgestellte is a German term derived from the verb vorstellen, meaning to introduce, present, or imagine. In everyday use it most often appears as the participle vorgestellt and functions as an adjective meaning introduced or presented. It can also be used as a nominalized form with capital V, referring to a person who has been introduced, for example der Vorgestellte (the introduced person) or die Vorgestellten (the introduced people).

As an adjective before a noun, vorgestellte or vorgestellten adapts to gender, number and case. For example: die vorgestellten Personen (the introduced people), der vorgestellte Mann (the introduced man), die vorgestellte Frau (the introduced woman). The form vorartikel helps indicate the relationship: the individuals have already been presented in the given context, such as at a conference, meeting, or event. The noun form Vorgestellte is used in more formal or bureaucratic text to name a person who has been introduced; plural is die Vorgestellten.

Usage notes:

- vorgestellte is not interchangeable with the sense of imagining; that sense comes from sich vorstellen, a different verb meaning to picture or to introduce oneself.

- The word’s meaning can range from simply “introduced” to “presented to an audience,” depending on context.

See also: vorstellen, Vorstellung, sich vorstellen, vorstellbar.

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