Complex extended participial attribute

What it is: An extended participial attribute packs a whole relative clause in front of the noun, between the article and the noun. It is the dense pre-nominal modifier of academic and legal prose.

How it works: Everything that would follow a relative pronoun is squeezed before the noun and can be expanded with adverbs, objects and prepositional phrases. The choice of participle changes the meaning:

• Partizip I (-end) = active / simultaneous: die steigenden Preise (the rising prices)
• Partizip II = passive / completed: die gestiegenen Preise (the prices that have risen)
• **zu + Partizip I* = necessity/possibility: die zu lösende Aufgabe* (the task to be solved)

A relative clause transforms like this:

• die Preise, die im letzten Jahr stark gestiegen sind → die im letzten Jahr stark gestiegenen Preise

Examples:

• Der von der Kommission nach langer Debatte einstimmig verabschiedete Entwurf trat in Kraft. - The draft unanimously adopted by the commission after long debate came into force.
• Die noch zu prüfenden Unterlagen liegen bereit. - The documents still to be checked are ready.

Common mistakes: Choosing the wrong participle reverses the meaning (steigend vs gestiegen). Keep agreement endings on the participle correct, and do not forget that zu + Partizip I always carries a modal sense.

A whole clause packed in front of the noun as a participial attribute - the dense pre-nominal modifier of academic prose.

Everything that would follow a relative pronoun is squeezed in front of the noun: „die Preise, die im letzten Jahr stark gestiegen sind“ → „die im letzten Jahr stark gestiegenen Preise“. Partizip I = active; Partizip II = passive/perfect; „zu“ + Partizip I = necessity/possibility („die zu lösende Aufgabe“).

Ein ganzer Nebensatz wird als erweitertes Partizipialattribut vor das Nomen gestellt - das dichte Vorfeld der Wissenschaftssprache.