teilnehmend

Teilnehmend is the present participle of the verb teilnehmen, meaning to participate or take part. It functions as an adjective describing someone or something that participates or is involved. The word is built from Teil (part) and nehmen (to take) with the participial suffix -d.

In use, teilnehmend appears mainly as an attributive adjective before a noun, with inflection matching gender, number, and case. Examples: der teilnehmende Teilnehmer, die teilnehmenden Studierenden, eine teilnehmende Haltung. It is also common in established terms such as teilnehmende Beobachtung, a methodological concept in ethnography and qualitative research, referring to participant observation. The related noun form Teilnehmende (capitalized) is used gender-neutrally to denote participants, as in Die Teilnehmenden der Konferenz.

Nuance and contrasts: teilnehmend emphasizes active participation or involvement, as opposed to merely being present. The corresponding past participle, teilgenommen, indicates completed participation (er hat am Seminar teilgenommen). The adjective form can appear in various contexts, including academic writing, event descriptions, and methodological discussions, where a participatory or engaging stance is intended or observed.

See also: Teilnahme, Beobachtung, ethnographische Methoden, Teilnahmekontexte.