Zurückkehrende

Zurückkehrende is the present participle (Partizip I) of the German verb zurückkehren, meaning to return. It can function as an adjective describing someone or something that is returning, or it can be nominalized and used as a noun in reference to a person who has returned. The form is inflected to agree with gender, number, and case when used attributively.

As an attributive adjective, zurückkehrende precedes the noun and changes its endings according to German declension rules. Examples: der zurückkehrende Mann, die zurückkehrende Frau, das zurückkehrende Kind. In indefinite contexts: ein zurückkehrender Mann, eine zurückkehrende Frau, ein zurückkehrendes Kind. In plural: die zurückkehrenden Männer, die zurückkehrenden Frauen. When used as a noun, capitalized, it can refer to a person who has returned: der Zurückkehrende, die Zurückkehrende, die Zurückkehrenden.

Usage notes: zurückkehrende is common in journalism, history, and descriptive prose to specify people or groups that have completed a return from a departure, such as zurückkehrende Soldaten or zurückkehrende Geflüchtete. It is distinct from wiederkehrend, which means recurring or repeated, rather than returning from a departure.

Etymology: formed from zurück- (back, return) + kehren (to turn, to return) with the present participle suffix -ende. This construction is typical for German participles used as adjectives or nouns, enabling precise, concise descriptions of action-related characteristics.