sächlichen

Sächlichen is the inflected form of the German adjective sächlich. The word appears in two principal uses: as an attributive adjective meaning material, tangible, or substantive; and as a noun in the form das Sächliche, referring to the tangible or material realm.

Adjective usage: sächlich describes things with emphasis on their physical, practical, or factual aspects, often contrasting with abstract or ideal. It is declined like a regular adjective and takes endings that depend on gender, number, and case. After definite articles, the plural form is sächlichen (die sächlichen Merkmale). Examples include der sächliche Gegenstand (the tangible object), die sächliche Eigenschaft (the tangible property), den sächlichen Gegenstand (accusative), or mit den sächlichen Eigenschaften (with the tangible properties). The ending -en is common in several combinations, such as feminine neutral or plural forms, depending on the construction.

Noun usage: Das Sächliche, capitalized, denotes the tangible or material world, or the concrete aspects of reality, often contrasted with geistige (the spiritual or intellectual) or subjektive (the subjective). In discourse, one may refer to die Sächlichen to discuss concrete things as a category.

Etymology and nuance: sächlich derives from Sache meaning “thing” or “matter,” combined with the suffix -lich to form “pertaining to a thing.” The noun das Sächliche has a long-standing presence in German philosophy and everyday language, signaling a focus on concrete, empirical, or practical aspects rather than abstract concepts.

Usage notes: In most modern contexts, sächlichen is used in normal descriptive language, with synonyms such as konkret or materiell when emphasizing concreteness or practicality.