freundlichen

freundlichen is an inflected form of the German adjective freundlich, meaning "friendly" or "kind." It is used when the adjective directly modifies a noun (attributive position) and must agree with the noun’s case, gender, and number. The ending -en appears in several common patterns, especially with definite articles and in the dative case.

In plural nouns with a definite determiner, the form appears as freundlichen: Die freundlichen Lehrkräfte erklären den Sachverhalt. In the dative singular, the endings are also -en after a definite article: dem freundlichen Mann, der freundlichen Frau, dem freundlichen Kind. In the dative plural, as in den freundlichen Menschen oder den freundlichen Gästen, the ending is -en as well. With no determiner (strong inflection) the plural typically uses freundliche, as in freundliche Kinder, freundliche Leute.

A notable, fixed usage is the closing formula Mit freundlichen Grüßen, which uses the dative plural form to modify Grüße. This demonstrates how the same word connects to a set phrase in everyday writing.

Predicative use of the adjective (after a linking verb like sein) does not take the -en ending: Sie ist freundlich. In that position, the form is independent of number or case and remains freundlich.

Etymology and relation to other forms: freundlichen derives from freundlich, whose root freund- comes from the concept of friendship or kindness, with the suffix -lich creating the adjective meaning "friendly." The -en ending reflects standard German adjective inflection rules.