sechsten

Sechsten is the inflected form of the German ordinal numeral sechste, meaning sixth. It functions as an adjective that denotes order or position and must be declined to match the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies. It is not a standalone noun.

In German, ordinals behave like adjectives and take different endings depending on the surrounding determiner and the noun. After a definite article, sechtste-style forms take weak endings. Examples with masculine singular: nominative der sechste, accusative den sechsten, dative dem sechsten, genitive des sechsten. Feminine singular forms include die sechste (nominative/accusative) and der/sechsten (dative/genitive). Plural forms are die sechsten (nominative/accusative), with dative der sechsten and genitive der sechsten. In practice, sechsten commonly appears in phrases such as am sechsten Tag (on the sixth day), im sechsten Stock (on the sixth floor), and mit den sechsten Klassen (with the sixth grades).

The form sechsten also appears in other cases and genders in everyday usage, such as der sechsten Stunde (genitive feminine singular) or in the dative plural mit den sechsten Tagen. The precise ending depends on the noun and its determiner, but the general pattern is consistent with German adjective declension for ordinals.

Etymology traces sechste to the base numerals six (sechs) plus a typical ordinal suffix, evolving through standard German spelling and declension conventions. In use, sechsten helps specify order within a group or sequence and is a common element in dates, measurements, demographics, and scheduling.

See also: German ordinal numbers, adjective declension in German.