gehaftet

Gehaftet is the past participle of the German verb haften. The verb haften has two main semantic fields: physical adhesion and liability or obligation, with a third, less common sense referring to cling or attachment in a figurative way. Because gehaftet is a participle form, it appears mainly in written style and in perfect or passive constructions, and its usage today is relatively limited.

In its physical sense, gehaftet can describe something that has adhered to a surface. For example, in a narrative or descriptive text one might encounter a sentence such as der Aufkleber hat gehaftet, meaning the sticker stuck to the surface. In everyday speech, speakers often prefer verbs like kleben or haften in the present tense.

In its legal or formal sense, haften conveys liability or obligation. In this area, gehaftet tends to occur in older or bureaucratic language and in adjectival phrases to indicate that a party is bound by obligation or liable for something. For example, it may appear in more formal formulations such as eine gehaftete Forderung or in contexts where liability is being described, though such usage is comparatively rare in modern spoken German.

Relation to other terms is important: Haft (custody) and Haftung (liability) are distinct concepts, and gehaftet is not a synonym for being in custody. In contemporary everyday German, people typically use in Haft to denote custody, and use haftbar or verantwortlich to express liability, rather than gehaftet.

See also: Haftung, Haft, Haftpflicht.