hunderte

Hunderte is a German noun that denotes hundreds, used to refer to a large but imprecise quantity. It functions as a plural noun and is typically employed when the exact number is either unknown or deliberately not specified. For example, one might say “Hunderte von Menschen” or “Hunderte von Häusern,” meaning hundreds of people or hundreds of houses.

In everyday language, Hunderte is commonly paired with prepositions such as von or in order to indicate the scope of the quantity. The phrase “Hunderte von” translates to “hundreds of,” and is frequently found in news reports, descriptions of crowds, or statistical summaries. It is not used when a precise count is required; for exact numbers, speakers would use specific numerals or refer to the singular form Hundert for the exact amount.

Etymology and form: Hunderte derives from Hundert (100) with the plural suffix -e. It is always capitalized as a noun in German. The word contrasts with Hundert when a precise hundred is meant; in that case the numeral is used or a determiner-noun construction like “genau hundert” appears. The form Hunderte can appear in various declensions depending on the sentence structure, but the base meaning remains the same: a large, non-specific quantity in the hundreds range.

See also: Hundert, Zahlenmengen, German grammar.