nachträglichen

Nachträglichen is the inflected form of the German adjective nachträglich, meaning belated or retrospective. The word describes things that occur after the fact or are added retroactively. It is a standard part of the German language and declines like other adjectives, with endings that depend on gender, number and case. The ending -en appears in plural forms and in certain cases after definite articles.

Common contexts and examples

- In legal, administrative or financial language, nachträgliche Änderungen (belated changes), nachträgliche Kosten (retroactive costs) and nachträgliche Gebühren (belated charges) are typical collocations.

- In everyday usage, it can describe a later-added or subsequent item, as in eine nachträgliche Bitte (a belated/request added later).

- With a definite article in plural, the phrase die nachträglichen Änderungen is standard; in the dative plural one finds den nachträglichen Änderungen.

As a general rule, nachträglichen is not used as an independent noun; if the adjective is nominalized, the form das Nachträgliche can occur, though this usage is relatively rare and context-dependent.

Etymology and related terms

- Etymologically, nach- is the prefix meaning after, combined with a form historically linked to the adjectives in the sprachgebrauch. In practice, nachträglich follows the usual German adjective declension patterns.

- Related concepts include rückwirkend (retroactive) and Nachträglichkeit (the quality or state of being belated or added after the fact).

Usage note

Adjectives are not capitalized in German when they function attributively; they are capitalized only if used as nouns (das Nachträgliche).