diesen

Diesen is a German demonstrative form derived from the stem dies- that marks proximity or reference to a specific item. It functions as both a determiner and, less commonly, a pronoun, and it appears in two main grammatical contexts: as the accusative masculine singular determiner before a noun (diesen Mann) and as the dative plural determiner before a noun (diesen Leuten). This contrasts with other forms of the same demonstrative set, such as dieser (nominative masculine singular) and diese (feminine or plural in various cases).

In practical use, deceivingly simple forms carry important distinctions. The form diesen occurs when the noun is in the accusative masculine singular, or when the noun is in the dative plural, as in diesen Mann or diesen Leuten. The determiner adapts to the noun’s gender, number, and case in other configurations, yielding forms such as dieser, diese, dieses, etc., depending on the grammatical role of the noun phrase.

Etymologically, dies- is a common Germanic demonstrative root, related to cognates found in other West Germanic languages (for example Dutch deze/dit). The German forms have developed through standard inflection to encode case and number, with diesen preserving the essential demonstrative sense of “this/these” in its specialized contexts.

Usage note: diesen can also function as a demonstrative pronoun when the noun is omitted, as in Diesen habe ich gewählt, meaning “This one I have chosen.” Typical examples include Ich sehe diesen Mann (I see this man) and Ich helfe diesen Leuten (I help these people). Understanding diesen as the accusative masculine singular and dative plural form helps distinguish its role from other inflected forms of dies- in everyday German.