ausgedehnten

Ausgedehnten is a form of the German adjective ausgedehnt, meaning extended or spread out. It is used as an attributive adjective in plural nouns and occurs with a definite determiner or other determiner that requires a weak inflection. In this position it takes the ending -en, as in die ausgedehnten Felder or die ausgedehnten Wälder. The corresponding dative plural form is den ausgedehnten Feldern, and other case forms follow standard German adjective declension patterns.

Etymology and meaning: ausgedehnen comes from prefix aus- (out, outstretch) and dehnen (to stretch). The participle ausgedehnt combines these roots to describe something that has been stretched or expanded in extent, whether spatial, temporal, or figurative.

Usage notes: Ausgedehnten is not a standalone noun; it is an inflected form of the adjective used to describe plural nouns. In predicative position with a singular noun, the form changes (for example, Die Fläche ist ausgedehnt). In everyday language, ausgedehnt commonly describes large areas, long durations, or broad concepts such as infrastructure, landscapes, or plans.

Examples:

- Die ausgedehnten Felder erstrecken sich über mehrere Kilometer.

- Die ausgedehnten Wälder prägen das Tal.

- Mit der Renovierung entstanden ausgedehnte Infrastrukturprojekte.

See also: Ausdehnung, dehnen, ausgedehntes Objekt.

This article provides a concise overview of the adjective form ausgedehnten, its linguistic function, and typical usage in German.