Herzlichen

Herzlichen is the inflected form of the German adjective herzlich, meaning heartfelt, cordial, or sincere. It is commonly used in greetings, expressions of thanks, congratulations, and other courteous phrases. In typical constructions without an article, it appears before a masculine singular noun, as in Herzlichen Glückwunsch, a traditional expression for “congratulations.” It also appears in other common phrases such as Herzliche Grüße (kind regards) and Vielen herzlichen Dank (many heartfelt thanks).

Etymology and meaning. The base adjective herzlich comes from Herz (heart) with the suffix -lich, which conveys a characteristic or quality. The term denotes actions or sentiments that are genuine and warm, originating in a sense of acting “from the heart.” Over time, it broadened from a literal reference to the heart to a general sense of sincerity and warmth in social usage.

Usage and variants. Herzlichen is primarily used as an attributive adjective before a noun or in fixed phrases. Its exact ending can vary with grammar rules in standard German, and capitalization follows normal orthography: the noun being described is capitalized, while the adjective is not, except at sentence starts or in some stylistic conventions where the closing of a letter is presented as a line heading (for example, Herzliche Grüße). In everyday writing, you will also encounter the related phrases Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag and Vielen herzlichen Dank.

See also. Herzlich, the base adjective; German greetings and letter closings; German adjective declension.