exakten

Exakten is the inflected form of the German adjective exakt, meaning precise or exact. In German, adjectives are declined to reflect case, number, and gender, and exakten appears primarily in plural contexts when a definite article or determiner is present. For example, with a definite article in the nominative plural you get die exakten Daten; in the dative plural you would say den exakten Daten. In plural without a determiner, the strong declension yields exakte Daten, while with a definite article or similar determiner, exakten appears in the appropriate plural cases.

Etymology and usage: The adjective exakt originates from the Latin exactus, via French exact or directly through German linguistic contact, and has been part of standard German since the early modern period. It is widely used in scientific, technical, and everyday language to denote high precision or accuracy. Common collocations include exakte Messung (exact measurement), exakte Daten (precise data), exakte Wissenschaften (the exact sciences, a traditional term for fields like mathematics, physics, and chemistry), and exakte Uhr (precise clock). As an adverb, exakt modifies verbs and is not inflected the same way as the adjective; for example, er arbeitet exakt means he works precisely.

Grammatical note: Exakten illustrates how German adjectives take different endings depending on the article, case, and number. While it is most visible in plural phrases with a definite article, its forms also appear in singular contexts under the appropriate declension patterns.

See also: Exakt, Exaktheit, German grammar.