folgenden

Folgenden is a form of the German adjective folgend, meaning “following” or “subsequent.” It is commonly used in written language to indicate items, sections, or points that come after in a sequence or later in the text.

Use and examples

As an attributive adjective before a noun, folgenden is declined according to gender, number, and case. Examples include:

- die folgenden Punkte (the following points)

- den folgenden Punkten (the following points, accusative plural)

- dem folgenden Mann (to the following man, dative singular)

- im folgenden Kapitel (in the following chapter)

The phrase im Folgenden, with capital F, is a common fixed expression meaning “in the following text/section” and is used to introduce what comes next. In this nominalized form, Folgende/Folgenden functions as a noun: das Folgende (the following [item/section]).

Nominalization and variations

Folgenden can also appear in its capitalized, nominalized form to refer to what follows in a more abstract sense, such as “das Folgende” or, less commonly, “die Folgenden.” In these uses, the term behaves like a noun and is generally found in formal or legal-writing contexts.

Etymology and relation

The word derives from the verb folgen (to follow) and its present participle folgend. In German, folgend serves both as an adjective and, when nominalized, as a noun meaning “the following.” It is closely related to verwandte terms such as nachfolgend (subsequent) and folgt as a verb form.

In summary, folgenden is the adaptable, inflected form of folgend used to mark what comes next in German prose, with the fixed phrase im Folgenden serving as a standard way to reference the ensuing content.