Kalte

Kalte is not a standalone word in German, but an inflected form of the adjective kalt, meaning cold. It appears in different forms depending on the gender, number, and case of the noun it describes, as part of standard German adjective declension.

In common phrases, kalte occurs in several contexts. After a definite article, it takes the weak ending: die kalte Frau (feminine singular), das kalte Wasser (neuter singular), die kalten Getränke (plural). After an indefinite article, or with no article in plural, it takes endings appropriate to mixed or strong declension: eine kalte Frau, eine kalte Brise, kalte Getränke.

Kalte can also describe nouns in the plural without an article, as in kalte Getränke, where it aligns with the strong ending pattern for adjectives in plural form. In everyday usage, kalte is frequently found in weather, food, or climate contexts, such as kalte Luft (cold air) or eine kalte Nacht (a cold night).

What kalte is not is a standalone noun. The related noun Kälte means coldness or the state of being cold, a distinct term derived from the same root but used differently in syntax and meaning.

In summary, kalte serves as a grammatical inflection of the German adjective kalt, used to describe nouns in varying gender and number, and should be distinguished from the noun Kälte, which denotes coldness.