abendlichen

Abendlichen is the inflected form of the German adjective abendlich, which means related to or occurring in the evening. The base adjective abendlich is formed from Abend, meaning evening, with the suffix -lich that turns nouns into adjectives describing a quality or relation.

Etymology and meaning: Abendlich literally denotes something characteristic of the evening or happening during the evening. It is commonly used in descriptive writing to convey atmosphere, time of day, or events that take place in the early or late hours of the day. The form abendlichen appears in various grammatical contexts depending on gender, case, and number.

Usage and inflection: Abendliche takes different endings when inflected. The specific form abendlichen occurs in several common contexts, including:

- Plural with a definite article: die abendlichen Stunden (the evening hours) and in other cases den abendlichen Stunden, der abendlichen Stunden.

- Feminine singular in dative or genitive with a determiner: der abendlichen Stunde (genitive singular) or mit einer abendlichen Stunde (dative singular).

- Masculine or neuter nouns in dative singular expressions: dem abendlichen Mann or dem abendlichen Himmel (as in am abendlichen Himmel).

In everyday language, the ending type is determined by the surrounding article or determiner, and abendlichen is most likely to be seen with plural nouns or with feminine singular in the dative/genitive.

Examples:

- Die abendlichen Stunden wurden still. (The evening hours became quiet.)

- Der abendliche Himmel war klar. (The evening sky was clear.)

- Mit einer abendlichen Stunde begann der Vortrag. (With an evening hour the lecture began.)

Related terms include abendlich (less common) and abends as an adverb for everyday references to the evening.