nordwestlichen

Nordwestlichen is a German inflected form of the adjective nordwestlich, meaning northwestern. It functions as an attributive adjective used to describe a noun in relation to the northwest. As a declined form, nordwestlichen appears in several grammatical environments, rather than being a separate term with its own meaning.

In practice, nordwestlichen is used when the noun it modifies is placed in cases that require an -en ending in the attributive position. Examples include:

- Die nordwestlichen Länder Europas. (nominative plural with a definite article)

- dem nordwestlichen Gebiet. (dative singular neuter)

- in den nordwestlichen Regionen Deutschlands. (dative plural)

- die nordwestlichen Küstenabschnitte. (nominative plural)

The base form nordwestlich is the uninflected form used in predicative position or in non-attributive uses, for example: Der Ort liegt nordwestlich von hier. In these cases, the ending -en is not required.

Relation to related terms:

- Nordwesten is the noun form meaning the direction “northwest,” used to name the cardinal direction rather than describe a noun.

- Nordwestlich is the adjective, while nordwestlichen is one of its common inflected endings.

- The term does not denote a standalone concept beyond its grammatical role; its meaning is determined by the noun it describes.

Usage notes:

- Nordwestlichen occurs frequently in geographic, meteorological, and descriptive texts to specify location or orientation.

- Its exact ending depends on gender, number, article, and case of the noun it accompanies.

See also: Nordwesten, nordwestlich.