mehrere

Mehrere is a German determiner and pronoun meaning “several” or “a number of.” It precedes a plural noun to indicate a non-specific quantity that is more than a few but not precisely stated. It is less emphatic than viele and can be more precise than einige depending on context and emphasis.

In use, mehrere applies to countable plural nouns. It declines like other indefinite determiners: nominative and accusative plural mehrere Bücher; genitive plural mehrerer Bücher; dative plural mehreren Büchern. As a pronoun, it can stand without a following noun: Mehrere kamen zu spät. The form is not used in the singular.

Examples illustrate its nuance: Ich habe mehrere Sprachen gelernt. Wir kennen mehrere Möglichkeiten. In der Studie wurden mehrere Fälle festgestellt. Compared with einige, mehrere implies a larger but still undetermined quantity, whereas viele suggests a larger total; die feine Abstufung depends on context and speaker intention.

Etymology and status: multiple is linked to the German word mehr (more) and has existed in various Germanic varieties since the medieval period. Today, mehrere is common in written and spoken German, often preferred in formal or neutral registers when the exact count is unspecified but larger than few.