schwächeren

Schwächeren is a declined form of the German adjective schwach, meaning "weaker." It is not a separate lexeme, but one of the inflected forms the adjective can take in German grammar. The form appears in plural contexts where the adjective is declined, particularly in dative and genitive cases, and in certain strong declension configurations.

In practice, schwächeren occurs most often when the adjective is used with plural nouns and the sentence requires a declined ending. For example, in a prepositional phrase with a plural element in the dative, one can encounter mit den schwächeren Mitgliedern (with the weaker members). In genitive plural constructions, der schwächeren Gruppen (of the weaker groups) is possible. When the adjective is declined without a definite article (strong declension) in the dative plural, schwächeren also appears, as in mit schwächeren Gruppen.

Schwächeren can also be used as a nominalized form, capitalized as Schwächeren, to refer to a group of people described as weaker. In this nominalized sense, Die Schwächeren denotes “the weaker ones” and functions as a plural noun.

Etymology traces schwach to the Germanic root meaning lacking strength or power. The form schwächeren reflects standard German adjective declension rules, adapting the stem schwach to mark number, case, and definiteness.

See also: German grammar, adjective declension, strong vs. weak declension, nominalization of adjectives.