Großen

Großen is the inflected form of the German adjective groß, meaning large or big. In German, adjectives are declined to reflect the gender, number, and case of the noun they modify, as well as the presence or absence of a determiner.

In common usage the form großen appears in several patterns. After a definite article or other determiner that marks case and gender (weak declension), the adjective takes the ending -en in many plural forms and in several singular forms. Examples: die großen Häuser (nominative plural), den großen Häusern (dative plural), der großen Häuser (genitive plural). In singular forms with definite articles, feminine nominative uses eine große Frau, while feminine dative and genitive take einer großen Frau and der großen Frau, respectively.

With indefinite articles or in strong declension (no determiner or only a determiner that does not mark all features), the endings vary by case and gender. Examples: Einen großen Mann (accusative masculine singular), ein großes Haus (nominative/accusative neuter singular), eine große Frau (nominative feminine singular). In contexts without a determiner but with plural nouns, the strong declension yields große Häuser (nominative plural).

The exact ending of großen thus depends on the grammatical role of the noun phrase. It is not a standalone word but a form used for attributive adjectives in German syntax. The word Groß itself comes from historical Germanic roots and shares cognates across the Germanic language family.

See also: Größer, Größe, Größen (as a noun meaning size or magnitude).