Erkennenbare

Erkennenbare is a German adjective form related to the verb erkennen, meaning to recognize or identify. In standard German, the form commonly used to express “recognizable” is erkennbar, and when used attributively before a noun the related form erkennbare appears (as in erkennbare Merkmale or eine erkennbare Eigenschaft). The combination erkennbare would be the expected spelling in many contexts, whereas recognizing erkennbare as a separate unit is less common and often regarded as a nonstandard variant or typographical artifact.

Etymology and grammar notes: the suffix -bar attaches to stems to indicate possibility or capacity, producing adjectives such as erkennbar. The stem erkenn- comes from erkennen, so erkennbar is the usual form. The attributive form erkennbare is used before feminine singular nouns and in many plural contexts (e.g., eine erkennbare Eigenschaft, erkennbare Merkmale). In predicative position the preferred form is erkennbar (Das Muster ist erkennbar).

Usage and nuance: erkennbar describes something perceptible or identifiable by inspection, perception, or analysis. It is common in scientific, analytic, and everyday language to speak of erkennbaren Unterschieden, erkennbare Muster, or erkennbares Verhalten. The emphasis is on whether a feature or pattern can be recognized given criteria, data, or perceptual ability.

Relation to related terms: erkennbar is the general predicate adjective; erkennbare is the attributive variant before nouns; erkennbar expresses recognizability in a broad sense. The noun form Erkennbarkeit refers to recognizability as a property.

See also: erkennen, Erkennbarkeit, erkennbare Merkmale, erkennbares Muster.