Ztracených

Ztracených is a Czech adjective form derived from ztracený, meaning "lost" or "missing." It functions as a plural genitive form of the adjective and appears in phrases describing a plural noun in a context of loss or being unrecovered. For example, mnoho ztracených lidí means "many lost people."

Usage and semantics: The term covers both physical loss (objects, people, items) and more abstract forms of loss (opportunities, hopes, memories). In standard prose it is commonly found in expressions such as ztracených lidí (lost people), ztracených časů (lost times), or ztracených nadějí (lost hopes). The sense is typically that something has not been found or cannot be recovered, rather than merely being misplaced temporarily.

Grammatical note: Ztracených is an inflected form, not a standalone noun. It is the genitive plural form of ztracený and is used to modify a plural noun within a sentence. Like other Czech adjectives, its form indicates number and case, and it agrees with the noun it describes.

Etymology and related terms: Ztracených comes from the verb ztratit (to lose) and the past participle ztracený (lost). Related words include ztratit, ztracený, and ztráta (loss). The form ztracených is most typical in contexts where a plural noun appears in genitive without a direct determiner, often following numerals or quantifiers.