Geeigneten

Geeigneten is a declined form of the German adjective geeignet, meaning "suitable" or "appropriate." The form is not a separate word with its own meaning, but rather a grammatical ending that appears when the adjective agrees with a noun in gender, number and case. It is most common in contexts with determiners or in the plural with a determiner, and it can also occur in certain plural forms without a determiner.

Declension and usage

In standard German, the ending -en appears in several key contexts. For example, masculine singular accusative uses den geeigneten Mann (the suitable man). Plural dative with a definite article uses den geeigneten Personen or mit den geeigneten Mitarbeitern (with the suitable people/employees). In plural nominative or accusative with a definite article, die geeigneten Maßnahmen is common. Without a determiner, the plural nominative/accusative is typically geeignet e.g., geeignete Maßnahmen, while other cases require different endings.

Examples

- Den geeigneten Mann hat der Personalchef ausgewählt. (masculine singular, accusative)

- Wir arbeiten mit den geeigneten Mitarbeitern zusammen. (plural, dative)

- Die geeigneten Maßnahmen wurden ergriffen. (plural, nominative)

- Geeignete Lösungen sind gefragt. (plural, nominative, without determiner)

Grammatical notes

Geeigneten can appear in forms beyond the masculine singular accusative and plural dative, depending on the noun’s gender, number, and case. It is closely related to andere declined forms of geeignet, such as geeignetes, geeignete, or geeignetem, which occur in corresponding contexts. The word remains a descriptive adjective and can be substituted by synonyms like passend or tauglich in many sentences.

Etymology

Geeignet derives from the German verb eignen (to fit or be suitable) and the past participle ending -t, developing into the common adjective geeignet. The form geieignet appears in older stages of the language, with modern usage standardized as geeignet and its inflected endings.