geringe

Geringe is a German adjective meaning small, slight, or meager. It is used to describe nouns to express a small degree or amount. The form wrong? No—the form "geringe" is one of its inflected forms and appears before nouns in common constructions, as in "eine geringe Menge" (a small amount), "die geringe Wahrscheinlichkeit" (the small probability), or "geringe Kosten" (low costs).

Declension and usage: German adjectives are declined to reflect case, number, gender, and article. The form "geringe" appears in the singular for masculine, feminine, and neuter nominative, typically after a definite article or in determiner contexts: der geringe Mann, die geringe Frau, das geringe Kind, eine geringe Menge. In plural or other cases different endings occur (die geringen Mengen, in geringem Maße).

Semantic nuance: "geringe" emphasizes that something is not large; it often signals approximation, limitation, or modesty. It is common in formal or technical language, including discussions of probability, cost, risk, or significance. In everyday speech, alternatives such as klein or wenig may be used, depending on nuance.

Etymology: from the Old High German gering, with origins in a Germanic root meaning "small" or "insignificant," and it has cognates across West Germanic languages.

See also: klein, wenig