gebrochener

Gebrochener is a form of the German adjective gebrochen, meaning broken. It is used attributively before a masculine singular noun and reflects the masculine nominative singular ending in German adjective declension. In other words, gebrochener is the form you use when saying something like “a broken …” before a masculine noun.

In German, attributive adjectives are declined for case, gender, and number, and they also depend on the presence and type of determiner. With an indefinite article like ein, the masculine nominative singular form of the adjective ends in -er, yielding gebrochener. The ending changes with other cases: einen gebrochenen Arm (accusative masculine), einem gebrochenen Arm (dative masculine), eines gebrochenen Arms (genitive masculine). Plural forms are gebrochene Knochen in nominative/accusative, and gebrochener Knochen in genitive.

Examples:

- Nominative singular masculine: ein gebrochener Arm.

- Accusative singular masculine: einen gebrochenen Arm.

- Dative singular masculine: einem gebrochenen Arm.

- Genitive singular masculine: eines gebrochenen Arms.

- Nominative plural: gebrochene Knochen.

- Genitive plural: gebrochener Knochen.

Gebrochener contrasts with gebrochen as a past participle used predicatively, as in Der Arm ist gebrochen (the arm is broken). In attributive use, however, gebrochener is the form you typically encounter before masculine nouns. The word derives from the verb brechen and retains the sense of a fracture or break, which can apply to bones, objects, or metaphorically to situations described as broken or damaged.