kritischem

Kritischem is the dative singular form of the German adjective kritisch (meaning critical or critical-minded). It is not a standalone noun but a grammatical inflection used in adjectival phrases. The form appears most often when there is no definite article or other determiner preceding the noun, and the adjective carries a strong ending in the dative case.

In usage, kritischem appears in phrases such as mit kritischem Blick (with a critical eye), in kritischem Zustand (in a critical condition), or in kritischem Umfeld (in a critical environment). These examples illustrate its role in indicating manner or state, where the noun is in the dative case and the adjective bears the appropriate strong ending -em. The form can also occur in other masculine or neuter dative singular constructions without an article.

Grammatically, critical is declined as follows in the relevant case: in the dative singular masculine or neuter, the strong ending is -em, producing kritischem. When a definite article is present, the ending changes to -en (dem kritischen Mann, dem kritischen Kind). For feminine nouns in the same context, the strong dative ending is -er (mit guter Frau), so kritischem is not used for feminine noun phrases.

Etymology traces kritisch to the Greek kritikos, via Latin criticus and French critique, before entering German. The form kritischem reflects its function as a descriptive modifier rather than a separate lexical item.

See also: kritisch, Kritik, German grammar declension, attributive adjectives.