fehlende

Fehlende is a German adjective and the present-participle form derived from the verb fehlen, meaning to be missing or absent. As an adjective, fehlende describes something that is not present or not provided, and it is used before a noun to indicate lack or absence.

Grammatical use and inflection: fehlende can function attributively before nouns and takes endings according to gender, number, and case. For example, in the nominative singular you have der fehlende Beleg (masculine), die fehlende Information (feminine), and das fehlende Teil (neuter). In the plural, without a determiner, it appears as fehlende Unterlagen; with a definite article, die fehlenden Unterlagen. Possessives alter the form as well: meine fehlenden Unterlagen. The participle form is more common in attributive position; there is also a nominalized form, das Fehlende, used to refer to the missing thing in a general sense.

Usage notes: fehlende is typically used for concrete items such as documents, information, or parts, but it can also describe more abstract shortcomings, like fehlende Ressourcen. While the present participle fehlend exists, the attributive form fehlende is the standard way to express “missing” in everyday German. The word pairs with synonyms such as mangelnd, unvollständig, or nicht vorhanden, depending on nuance.

Etymology and related forms: fehlende is derived from the verb fehlen, which means to be missing or absent. Related forms include fehlend as the non-attributive present participle and the nominalized das Fehlende for discussing what is missing.

See also: fehlendem Beleg, fehlende Informationen, mangelnd, unvollständig.