gæsten

Gästen is the dative plural form of the German noun Gast, meaning “guests.” It appears in phrases that require a dative object and is not used as a stand-alone nominative form. Typical uses include prepositional phrases such as mit den Gästen (with the guests), von den Gästen (from the guests), or gegenüber den Gästen (toward the guests). In written German, Gäste is the nominative plural, while Gästen appears when the noun is in the dative case.

Etymology and forms: The base word Gast comes from older Germanic roots, with the plural nominative Gäste. The dative plural form is Gästen, reflecting common German inflection where the stem vowel changes and the -en ending is added for the plural dative. This form is encountered after definite or indefinite articles or directly in prepositional phrases, for example, mit Gästen or den Gästen in context.

Usage and meaning: Gästen primarily functions in hospitality, event planning, and narrative contexts to refer to people who are being hosted or who are guests in a given setting. It denotes the indirect object or the object of a preposition in sentences. The term carries no inherent value judgment and is used neutrally to describe people who are hosted or present as visitors.

Other considerations: As with many inflected noun forms in German, Gästen is predominantly a grammatical form found within larger phrases. It may appear in speeches, writing about hosting, invitations, or discussions of attendance, where the focus is on the guests rather than the hosting arrangement itself.