gegenwärtigen

Gegenwärtigen is a declined form of the German adjective gegenwärtig, which means present, current, or contemporary. It is used to describe things that belong to the present time, such as current events, states, or periods. For example, den gegenwärtigen Zustand (the present state), die gegenwärtigen Ereignisse (the present events), or des gegenwärtigen Jahrhunderts (of the present century).

Grammatically, gegenwärtigen is produced by the normal German adjective declension rules after certain determiners and in specific cases. With a definite article or other determiner that marks case and gender, the ending -en appears in many forms, as in dem gegenwärtigen Zustand (dative masculine singular), den gegenwärtigen Zustand (accusative masculine singular), der gegenwärtigen Situation (dative feminine singular), or die gegenwärtigen Ereignisse (nominative plural). In genitive singular you find des gegenwärtigen Jahrhunderts, and in plural forms you typically have die gegenwärtigen Ereignisse, die gegenwärtigen Umstände, etc.

Usage and nuance: The term is common in formal, academic, and journalistic German when discussing present-time phenomena, political or cultural conditions, and current developments. It can contrast with terms like vergangen (past) or zukünftigen (future). Common synonyms in context include aktuell, zeitnah, nowaday-oriented phrases such as im gegenwärtigen Kontext or in der gegenwärtigen Lage.

Etymology and relation: Gegenwärtigen stems from Gegenwart (the present moment) with the usual adjectival ending -en in its declined forms. It shares meaning with related words like gegenwärtig and Gegenwart, and is typically chosen to emphasize the temporal dimension of the described noun.