kürzerem

Kürzerem is a German word that functions as the dative singular form of the comparative adjective kürzer. Kürzer itself means "shorter" and is the comparative form of kurz, meaning "short." Therefore, kürzerem is used when referring to something shorter in the dative case, often after prepositions or as the indirect object of a verb. For example, in the sentence "Ich gebe dem kürzerem Seil den Vorzug" (I prefer the shorter rope), "kürzerem" is in the dative case because it follows the preposition "dem" (which is dative) and refers to the rope. The dative case is one of the four grammatical cases in German and indicates the indirect object of a verb, the object of certain prepositions, or other grammatical functions. The ending "-em" is characteristic of dative singular adjectives when they are preceded by a definite article like "dem." It's important to note that the specific ending of an adjective in German depends on its declension, which is determined by the preceding article (definite, indefinite, or no article) and the case and gender of the noun it modifies.