früheren

Früheren is a specifically inflected form of the German adjective früh (early, former). It is not a standalone lexical item, but a grammatical ending used when the adjective modifies a plural noun in attributive position and is governed by a definite determiner or other determiner that marks case and gender. In this usage the ending -en is the weak inflection common after definite articles.

In practice, früheren appears most often with plural nouns. Examples include die früheren Jahre (the earlier years), die früheren Mitarbeiter (the former employees), and in den früheren Jahren (in the earlier years). The form signals that the reference is to something previously existing or previously mentioned, within a context that supplies clear grammatical information about number, case, and definiteness.

Grammatical note: the form früheren is the plural, accusative or dative, and also the nominative plural after a definite article in standard German. With a definite determiner, the adjective takes the weak ending -en in all cases for the plural. If there is no definite determiner, the strong inflection would usually produce frühere for the nominative/accusative plural (e.g., frühere Jahre). Thus früheren is tied to patterns of article-driven declension rather than to a separate lexical sense.

Etymology: früh derives from Old High German frūh, related to meaning of being early or former in time.

See also: früh, frühere, früher, German adjective declension, attributive adjective endings.