früheres

früheres (German pronunciation [ˈfʁyːʁɛs]) is a German adjective and pronoun meaning “former”, “previous”, or “earlier”. In contemporary usage it modifies nouns to denote something that existed or occurred at an earlier time, often in contrast to a later or current state. Examples include “früheres Leben” (former life), “früheres Ich” (former self) and “früheres System” (previous system). The term can also function as a substantivized adjective, referring to “the former” or “the earlier ones” in a collective sense, as in “die Frühen” when designating a group of earlier members of a movement.

Etymologically, frühes derives from the Old High German “fruh” meaning “early”, itself related to the Proto‑Germanic *fruho‑, which is cognate with English “fore” and Dutch “vroeg”. The suffix –es marks the neuter singular nominative or genitive case, as well as the masculine/feminine weak declension in some contexts. In German grammar, frühes can be inflected according to case, number and gender, yielding forms such as frühere, früher, früheren, and früheres.

In historical and literary texts, früheres is frequently employed to set temporal contrast, often paired with “späteres” (later) or “nachfolgendes” (subsequent). The term appears in idiomatic expressions like “in früheren Zeiten” (in earlier times) and “früherer Stand” (former rank). While the word is neutral in tone, its precise meaning depends on context, requiring attention to surrounding temporal references.