Stärkeren

Stärkeren is the comparative inflected form of the German adjective stark, meaning strong. In German grammar, adjectives are declined to reflect case, number, gender, and the presence or absence of a determiner. The form stärkeren arises from the comparative stem stärker combined with the appropriate endings.

Usage and forms

Stärkeren appears in several common patterns. It can occur as the masculine singular accusative after a definite article: den stärkeren Mann. It also appears in the plural with a definite article: die stärkeren Männer. In these cases the form signals a comparison (stronger) between two or more nouns. The form also appears in other gender-number combinations as part of the comparative, such as die stärkeren Frauen (the stronger women). For neuter singular, the corresponding form is stärkeres (das stärkere Kind), not stärkeren.

Examples

Den stärkeren Mann hat er gesehen. Die stärkeren Männer arbeiten heute. Die stärkeren Frauen arbeiten zusammen. Das stärkere Kind spielt draußen.

Relationship to other forms

Stärkeren is one member of a larger system of adjective inflection in German, which includes the base form stark (positive), the comparative stärker, and the superlative stärksten. The exact endings depend on case, gender and number, as well as whether the determiner provides a weak or mixed inflection.

See also

German grammar, adjective declension, comparative forms. The term is a grammatical inflection rather than a standalone vocabulary item.