fortgefahren

Fortgefahren is the past participle form of the German verb fortfahren, meaning to continue or proceed, especially in the sense of continuing a journey, action, or process after a pause. It appears in perfect tenses with the auxiliary sein, as in Ich bin fortgefahren or Wir sind fortgefahren.

Etymology and grammar: The word combines the prefix fort- (“forward, onward”) with fahren (“to drive, travel”). Fortfahren is a separable-prefix verb; in main clauses the prefix typically appears before the verb, and in past tenses the past participle fortgefahren is placed after the auxiliary. In everyday use, both fortgefahren and weiterfahren are common, with fortgefahren often signaling continuation after an interruption.

Usage and nuance: Fortgefahren is used to describe the continuation of movement or activity. It can convey a sense of resuming a previously paused action or progressing to a new stage. In many contexts it is interchangeable with weiterfahren, but weiterfahren emphasizes simply continuing to move forward, while fortfahren often implies a continuation as part of a longer process. Examples: Wir sind fortgefahren, nachdem der Sturm vorübergezogen war. Der Zug ist fortgefahren, nachdem der Umweg beendet war. Nachdem die Reparatur abgeschlossen war, sind wir fortgefahren.

Noun form: Das Fortfahren can denote the act or process of continuing. For example: Das Fortfahren des Projekts war geplant, obwohl es Verzögerungen gab.

See also: weiterfahren, fortsetzen.