gedeckten

Gedeckten is the declined form of the German past participle gedeckt, derived from the verb decken. In plain language, it is used as an adjective meaning “set,” most often in the sense of a table that has been prepared for a meal or, less commonly, something that has been covered. The form appears when the adjective is declined to agree with a noun in a specific case and number.

In table-setting usage, gedeckten denotes that a table is laid with dishes, cutlery, and glassware. Examples of its inflected forms include den gedeckten Tisch (accusative masculine singular), dem gedeckten Tisch (dative masculine singular), and des gedeckten Tisches (genitive masculine singular). In the plural, the forms include die gedeckten Tische (nominative/accusative) and den gedeckten Tischen (dative). With an indefinite article, the endings differ: ein gedeckter Tisch (nominative masculine singular), einen gedeckten Tisch (accusative masculine singular).

The word also appears in predicative use, as in Der Tisch ist gedeckt, meaning “The table is set.” Here gedeckt functions as a past participle used as a predicate adjective rather than as a separate adjective form. The distinction between gedeckt (predicative) and gedeckten (inflected attributive form) follows standard German adjective declension rules, with endings varying by article, case, and number.

Etymology and related forms: gedeckt comes from decken, meaning to cover or to lay. The same root yields related phrases such as das gedeckte Frühstück or gedeckte Tische in various contexts, though the table-setting sense remains the primary usage in contemporary German.