beschreibtenden

Beschreibenden is a grammatical form found in German when using the adjective derived from the verb beschreiben, meaning to describe. As an attributive adjective, beschreibenden is used to describe a noun and is declined according to gender, number, and case in combination with definite determiners (such as der, die, das, dieser, jener, etc.). It is part of the weak (schwache) adjective declension, which applies after definite articles and similar determiners.

In practice, beschreibenden appears in several common contexts. For example, in the plural with a definite article you encounter die beschreibenden Texte (the descriptive texts). In the masculine singular accusative you find den beschreibenden Text (the descriptive text). It also appears in various dative or genitive phrases, such as mit der beschreibenden Frau (with the descriptive woman) or des beschreibenden Textes in other cases, depending on the determiner and the noun’s gender and number. The exact ending shifts with case and number, but -en is a frequent form in the weak paradigm, especially in plural or feminine/masculine contexts other than the standard nominative neuter singular.

Semantic nuance-wise, beschreibenden conveys the sense that the described noun has descriptive characteristics or serves a descriptive function. It contrasts with the base form beschreibend (the present participle used as an adjective in its undecorated form) and with other inflected forms that appear when not using definite determiners.

See also: German adjective declension, weak declension, descriptive language in linguistics.