Vorsichtigen

Vorsichtigen is the weak inflection of the German adjective vorsichtig, meaning careful or prudent. In German, adjectives change their endings to indicate gender, number, and case. The form vorsichtigen occurs after definite determiners (der, die, das, dieser, jener) and in other contexts that trigger the weak declension. It appears most often in the singular dative and in all plural cases.

Examples help illustrate its use. Nominative plural: Die vorsichtigen Fahrer fahren defensiv. Accusative plural: Ich sehe die vorsichtigen Fahrer. Dative plural: Die Versicherung hat den vorsichtigen Fahrern einen Rabatt gewährt. Singular dative masculine: Dem vorsichtigen Mann fiel die Entscheidung schwer. Singular dative feminine: Der vorsichtigen Frau wurde geraten, langsamer zu fahren. These forms show how the ending -en is added to vorsichtig when the noun is accompanied by a determiner that signals a fixed, declined form.

The base form vorsichtig has comparative and superlative forms: vorsichtiger (more careful) and am vorsichtigsten (most careful). In everyday language, the word appears in phrases such as vorsichtiger Umgang or mit vorsichtigen Schritten, where it remains an adjective modifying a noun.

Notes on use and synonyms: vorsichtig and behutsam are common synonyms, with vorsichtig often emphasizing prudence in risk assessment and behavior. Vorsichtigen, as a declined form, does not function as a standalone noun; it is a grammatical variant of the adjective used to agree with a specific noun phrase. When learning German grammar, recognizing the contexts that trigger the weak declension helps determine the correct ending for vorsichtig in different sentences.