Ausländische

Ausländische is an inflected form of the German adjective ausländisch, meaning foreign or foreign-origin. It is used to describe nouns that relate to countries outside the speaker’s own, and it functions attributively, agreeing with the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies. Because German adjectives change endings, the form ausländische can appear in several variants depending on context. Examples include: Die ausländische Frau sprach fließend Deutsch (feminine singular); Die ausländischen Studierenden arbeiten gemeinsam (plural); Ein ausländischer Mann trat ein (masculine singular); Ein ausländisches Auto stand davor (neuter singular).

In German grammar, ausländische can take different endings under strong or weak declension. With no determiner, the nominative plural is ausländische, and the nominative masculine, feminine, and neuter singular forms are ausländischer, ausländische, and ausländisches, respectively. When a definite article or other determiner is present, the endings shift (for example, der ausländische Handel, die ausländische Händlerin, dem ausländischen Partner).

Etymologically, ausländisch is formed from aus- (out, away) and landisch (related to land, country), built on the noun Land and the suffix -isch to form an adjective meaning related to a country. The usage of ausländische typically appears in neutral or descriptive contexts, such as discussions of foreign origin, foreign languages, or international commerce.

In modern German, the related noun Ausländer refers to a foreigner, and many style guides encourage neutral or inclusive phrasing (for example, Migrantinnen und Migranten) to avoid pejorative connotations associated with some older terms. Ausländische remains a common descriptive term in everyday language.