sauberen

Sauberen is a declined form of the German adjective sauber, meaning clean. In standard German, sauberen appears when the adjective is used attributively with definite determiners or other words that require the weak declension. The ending -en signals the appropriate combination of case, gender, and number for the inflected form.

Common uses and examples

- Masculine singular, accusative: Den sauberen Tisch habe ich gesehen.

- Masculine singular, dative: Ich helfe dem sauberen Mann.

- Neuter singular, genitive: Des sauberen Kindes Spielzeug ist neu.

- Plural, nominative/accusative: Die sauberen Räume glänzen.

- Plural, dative: Mit sauberen Händen fällt es leichter, sauber zu arbeiten.

Notes and related forms

- Sauberen is one of several inflected endings for sauber; other forms include sauber, sauberes, sauberen, je nach determiner and case.

- If no determiner triggers the weak declension, sauber takes different endings (strong or mixed declension), for example das saubere Auto in the neuter nominative or accusative.

- The word is not a separate lexical item beyond its role as a declined form of sauber; it can appear in fluent speech and writing wherever the appropriate case and number require -en.

Etymology

- Sauber is a Germanic word meaning clean. The form sauberen reflects standard German adjective inflection and historically derives from the same root as other Germanic languages’ terms for cleanliness.