beschädigtem

Beschädigtem is a declined form of the adjective or past participle beschä­digt, derived from the verb beschä­digen (to damage). It is not a separate lexical item, but a grammatical form used in German to describe something that has suffered damage. Specifically, beschädigt becomes beschädigtem in the dative singular masculine or neuter when combined with a determiner that requires the weak or mixed declension, or appears in contexts without an article that still requires a dative ending.

Usage and grammar

- Attributive use: beschädigtes Auto, beschädigter Mann, beschädigte Frau (nominative or other cases with corresponding endings). In the dative singular masculine or neuter with a determiner like dem or einem, the form is dem beschädigten Mann or dem beschädigten Auto, and in the indefinite dative: einem beschädigten Mann or einem beschädigten Auto.

- Predicative use: in sentences such as Das Auto ist beschädigt; here, the participle describes the subject without an ending supplied by a determiner.

- With prepositions that require the dative, beschädigtem can appear when no determiner is present or when the phrase uses a strong declension, as in mit beschädigtem Glas.

Examples

- dem beschädigten Fahrzeug

- dem beschädigten Auto

- mit beschädigtem Glas

- einem beschädigten Arm

Notes

- The form aligns with the rules of German adjective declension: the ending -en signals the dative singular masculine or neuter after a determiner, while other cases and genders use different endings.

- Beschädigtem stresses the state of damage in a noun phrase and is common in technical, legal, and insurance language, as well as everyday descriptions of damaged objects.