vergangener

Vergangener is a German adjective meaning “past” or “former.” It is the attributive inflected form of the participle verb vergehen (to pass, to elapse) and is used to describe a time, period, or state that has already elapsed.

Declension and usage

Vergangener appears with noun phrases and changes its ending according to gender, number, and case. Examples include:

- Masculine nominative singular after an indefinite article: ein vergangener Tag

- Masculine nominative singular after a definite article: der vergangene Tag

- Feminine nominative singular: die vergangene Stunde

- Neuter nominative/accusative singular: das vergangene Jahr

- Plural after a definite article: die vergangenen Tage

The form for other cases follows standard German adjective declension rules. In everyday language, the term most often occurs in phrases like “in der vergangenen Woche” (in the past week) or “das vergangene Jahr”.

Relation to related terms

Vergangener is closely related to vergangen as a stem and to the noun Vergangenheit, which means “the past” or “past times.” The adjective conveys a temporal sense, whereas Vergehen (with capital V) can also mean a fault or misdemeanor in other contexts. The verb vergehen denotes the action of time passing.

Usage notes

Vergangener typically refers to time that has already passed, in contrast to future or ongoing periods. It is common in encyclopedic, historical, or descriptive writing to denote prior eras, events, or periods.