Gewöhnlichen

Gewöhnlichen is the inflected form of the German adjective gewöhnlich, meaning usual, ordinary, or customary. It is not a separate word but a grammatical form used when the adjective accompanies a noun and must agree with its gender, number, and case.

In standard German, attributive adjectives after definite articles or other determiners often take the weak ending -en in many common combinations. Accordingly, gewöhnlichen appears in several common forms:

- Den gewöhnlichen Mann (masculine singular, accusative)

- Der gewöhnlichen Frau (feminine singular, dative)

- Dem gewöhnlichen Kind (neuter singular, dative)

- Die gewöhnlichen Dinge (plural, nominative or accusative)

Genitive forms also use -en with the definite article, for example:

- Des gewöhnlichen Mannes (masculine singular, genitive)

- Des gewöhnlichen Kindes (neuter singular, genitive)

- Der gewöhnlichen Dinge (plural, genitive)

Gewöhnlichen can also be seen in contexts with pronouns or possessive determiners, where it takes similar endings depending on the case, gender, and number of the noun it modifies. The corresponding unstressed or strong inflections may yield other endings (for example, gewöhnlich in front of a noun without a determiner, or in other cases), but gewöhnlichen specifically represents the -en pattern of the weak inflection.

Etymology and usage notes: gewöhnlich derives from Old and Middle High German forms related to gewöhnen, meaning to accustom or to be used to. In modern German, the adjective describes what is typical or habitual and can carry nuance of “everyday” or “standard” rather than something exceptional. It is used both in descriptive statements and in formal or literary contexts.

See also: German adjective declension, weak vs. strong inflection, grammar of attributive adjectives.