abgeraten

Abgeraten is the past participle of the German verb abraten, meaning to dissuade or advise against something. It is used with the auxiliary haben to form the perfect tense, as in Ich habe davon abgeraten, das Medikament zu nehmen. The usual construction is “davon abgeraten” to indicate that someone advised against a course of action, for example: Die Ärzte haben davon abgeraten, diese Behandlung fortzusetzen.

In practice, abgeraten can appear in passive or stative sentence forms, such as Es wurde davon abgeraten, das Experiment fortzusetzen, or Von Experten wurde abgeraten, diese Methode zu verwenden. The expression commonly follows verbs of advice or recommendation and often targets a specific decision or action.

Usage notes and nuance: abgeraten emphasizes that a recommendation against a thing was given, rather than a simple negative opinion. It is typically used in formal or neutral contexts, including medical, political, or professional communication, but can also appear in journalistic writing.

Etymology and related forms: abraten is formed from the prefix ab- (away, negation) and raten (to advise). The past participle abgeraten is used with haben in the perfect tense. A related everyday construction is “von etw. abraten” or “davon abratend,” though the latter is less common.

In other languages, the concept corresponds to “to advise against” in English or “af te raden” in Dutch. Abgeraten as a standalone word is not a separate sense outside its function as a participle of abraten.