Geschäften

Geschäften is the dative plural form of the German noun Geschäft, which also has the nominative and accusative plural Geschäfte. The word Geschäft covers several related meanings: a physical shop or store, a business or enterprise, and more generally matters or dealings. In everyday language, the sense is often clear from context or from accompanying modifiers.

In practice, Geschäfte can refer to shops in a town or region (die Geschäfte). It can also denote businesses or enterprises collectively (die Geschäfte führen; die Geschäfte laufen gut). The plural is used in various expressions, for example Geschäfte machen (to conduct business), Geschäfte erledigen (to take care of matters or errands), or Geldgeschäfte (financial transactions). A bare form like Geschäften appears mainly in phrases with prepositions that require the dative plural, such as in Geschäften or mit den Geschäften, and it can occur without an article to refer to shops in general (In Geschäften findet man vieles).

Historically and in modern usage, the term underlies many related compounds with the prefix Geschäfts-, such as Geschäftsführung (management), Geschäftsmodell (business model), Geschäftspartner (business partner), and Geschäftsidee (business idea). The word thus connects retail, corporate activity, and everyday routines of trading and handling affairs.

In summary, Geschäften functions as the dative plural form related to the broader noun Geschäft, encompassing stores, businesses, and the various matters that constitute commercial and social dealings. It appears most often in contexts about shops, business activities, and transactions, and it forms the basis for numerous compound terms in German.