frühen

Frühen is a form of the German adjective früh, meaning early. It is not a standalone word with a separate meaning; rather, it is the inflected attributive form that appears when früh modifies a noun.

In German, the ending of an adjective changes with the determiner and number of the noun it modifies. When Frühen appears before a noun that has a definite determiner or another determiner signaling a specific noun phrase, it typically takes the -en ending. Examples include die frühen Jahre (the early years) and den frühen Morgenstunden (the early morning hours). Possessive determiners also produce the -en ending, as in meine frühen Erfolge (my early successes).

When no determiner is present, the adjective follows the strong declension rules, and other endings may occur depending on number and case. In everyday usage, you are most likely to encounter Frühen in phrases with a determiner, while other forms are governed by standard German adjective declension patterns.

Pronunciation of Frühen is approximately [ˈfryːən] in standard German.

Etymology traces früh to the Old High German frū-, related to the notion of being early or at an early stage. The form Frühen reflects the language’s inflectional system rather than a separate lexical entry.

See also: früh, frühzeitig, Frühzeit.