Bloßen

Bloßen is an inflected form of the German adjective bloß, which means bare or naked and, in adverbial use, merely or only. In modern German, bloß functions as both an attributive adjective and an adverb. Bloßen is the form that appears before a plural noun when the noun is accompanied by a determiner that signals definiteness, such as the definite article.

Usage and forms

- With a definite article or a definite determiner in the plural, the attributive adjective takes the ending -en: die bloßen Hände (the bare hands). In other cases of the plural, the ending -en also appears in the determinate form, as in den bloßen Händen (to the bare hands) or der bloßen Hände (of the bare hands).

- Without a determiner, in the plural, the attributive form is bloße Hände (bare hands). This is the strong declension pattern for adjectives before plural nouns lacking a definite article.

- The word can also occur in other contexts where the determiner marks definiteness, always yielding the -en ending in the plural forms.

Meaning and nuance

- As an adjective, bloß describes something as exposed, naked, or unadorned (Haut, Knochen, Hände, Wände, etc.).

- As an adverb, bloß means merely, only, or simply, as in bloß wissen (only want to know) or bloß eine Meinung (merely an opinion). In this adverbial use, the form does not take an ending.

Etymology and relation to other forms

- Bloßen is derived from bloß, the base form used attributively before nouns in plural with a definite sense. The same root also yields the adverb bloß.

See also

- bloß, the related adjective and adverb forms

- German adjective declension, especially after definite determiners

- Bare/naked as a descriptive trope in German literature and common usage