einfallenden

Einfallenden is a declined form of the present participle adjective einfallend, or it can be seen as the attributive form of this participle after a definite article in plural. It is used to describe nouns that are currently falling inward, collapsing, or approaching inward, as in contexts from construction to optics. The word can also appear in phrases referring to ideas in a sense of “incoming” or “incident” in specialized usage, but its primary everyday function is as an adjective describing physical inward movement.

Etymology and grammar

The base verb ist einfallen, meaning to fall in, collapse, or to occur to someone. The present participle is einfallend, which can function as an adjective. When declined in a sentence with a definite article and in plural, the form becomes einfallenden (for example, die einfallenden Trümmer, den einfallenden Decken, von den einfallenden Decken). This reflects the weak/mixed adjective endings in German: after a definite article, the ending -en marks the plural in many cases.

Usage notes

- Physical collapse or inward movement: die einfallenden Decken (the collapsing ceilings), einfallende Trümmer (collapsing debris).

- Optics or physics: einfallende Lichtstrahlen (incident or incoming light rays).

- The form einfallenden is not the past participle; the corresponding past participle of einfallen is eingefallen, used in compound tenses (Es ist mir eingefallen). For the sense “to come to mind,” the phrase would use eingefallen rather than einfallenden.

Examples

- Die einfallenden Decken mussten stabilisiert werden.

- In der Optik beschreibt man einfallende Lichtstrahlen als diejenigen, die auf eine Oberfläche treffen.

See also

einfallen; eingefallen; einfallend; incident (in optics).