gesunkener

Gesunkener is the inflected form of the German adjective gesunken, meaning sunken or sunk. It is not a separate word with its own entry but a declined form used to describe something that has sunk below the surface. The base gesunken is the past participle of the verb sinken, used here as an adjective.

Morphology and usage: German adjectives decline according to gender, number, case, and article type. Without an article (strong declension), masculine nominative is gesunkener, feminine nominative is gesunkene, neuter nominative is gesunkenes. With a definite article (weak declension), masculine nominative is der gesunkene Mann; feminine nominative die gesunkene Insel; neuter nominative das gesunkene Boot. With an indefinite article (mixed declension), masculine nominative is ein gesunkener Mann; feminine nominative eine gesunkene Insel; neuter nominative ein gesunkenes Boot. Plural forms include die gesunkenen Boote (with definite article) or gesunkene Boote (without). In practice, gesunkener often appears in contexts such as bare noun phrases (Gesunkener Mast), or in combinations like ein gesunkener Mast, der gesunkene Mast, eine gesunkene Insel, ein gesunkenes Boot.

Examples: Gesunkener Mast ragte aus dem Wasser. Eine gesunkene Insel liegt unter Wasser. Das gesunkene Boot lag am Strand.

Semantics: The term covers literal sinking—ships, masts, islands, structures—and can also be used metaphorically for decline or loss (gesunkene Werte, gesunkene Hoffnungen). The word is common in nautical, geological, and descriptive contexts.

See also: gesunken, sinken.