Zehnten

Zehnten is the declined form of the German ordinal numeral zehnter, meaning the tenth. In German, ordinals function like adjectives when they modify a noun, and their endings depend on case, number, and gender. The form zehnten most commonly appears with definite determiners and in phrases describing order, dates, or sequences.

In the dative singular, which follows a definite article, zehnten takes the ending -en. Examples include dem zehnten Tag (the tenth day), dem zehnten Monat (the tenth month), and dem zehnten Jahr (the tenth year). In the feminine dative singular, as in der zehnten Stunde (the tenth hour), the ending remains -en. In the plural, zehnten occurs after definite articles as die zehnten Tage (the tenth days) or, in phrases like die zehnten Tage des Monats, the tenth days of the month. The form also appears in other cases as part of attributive adjective endings.

Zehnten can also function as part of a nominal phrase when the ordinal is used as a noun referring to a specific position in a sequence, such as der Zehnte (the tenth person). In this use, the plural die Zehnten is possible but relatively uncommon and typically clarified by context.

Etymology and morphology: zehnten derives from zehnt-, the stem of the ordinal, with the standard German -er suffix for the masculine/feminine/neuter base and the weak declension endings that follow definite articles or possessive determiners. The exact ending shifts with case and number, but zehnten consistently signals the tenth position.

See also: zehnter, zehnt, Zähnung (note: unrelated); zahlkolonne as a numeral form.