überstiegen

Überstiegen is the past participle of the German verb übersteigen. The word carries two related meanings: to surpass or exceed something (for example a limit, expectation, or budget), and to climb over or go over a physical obstacle. In these senses, it functions as a verb and can appear in various tenses with the appropriate auxiliary and forms.

Etymology and form. Übersteigen is formed from the prefix über- meaning over, together with steigen meaning to climb or rise. As a separable-prefix verb, in the present tense the prefix is separated, as in er steigt über das Hindernis. The past tense forms use the stem stieg, for example er stieg über. The past participle is überstiegen, and in perfect tenses it is typically used with the auxiliary haben (Der Preis hat das Budget überstiegen). In a purely movement sense, the verb may appear in different pragmatic constructions, but the most common usage for exceedance uses the perfect with haben.

Usage. The figurative sense (to exceed) is common in finance, statistics, and evaluation: “Die Kosten haben das Budget überstiegen.” The physical sense (to climb over) is used for navigating obstacles: “Der Bergsteiger hat den Felsen überstiegen.” In both senses, übersteigen conveys a crossing from one boundary to another, whether literal or metaphorical.

Conjugation notes. As a separable-prefix verb, übersteigen is conjugated with the prefix moving to the end in simple tenses (ich steige über, er steigt über). The past tense uses stieg over, and the past participle is überstiegen (mit haben in the perfect). Related verbs include übertreffen (to surpass in a competition) and überschreiten (to cross, to exceed in a broader sense).

See also. übertreffen, überschreiten, überqueren, steigen.