teilige

Teilige is a German attributive adjective used to describe something that consists of or is composed of multiple parts. It is commonly found in compounds such as mehrteilige, zweiteilige or dreiteilige, where teilig is combined with numerals or with the prefix mehr- to express a multi-part structure. The term is productive in media, publishing, architecture, and product descriptions.

Usage and forms

The most frequent constructions are mehrteilige Serien, zweiteilige Folgen and dreiteilige Dokumentationen. For example, eine mehrteilige Serie describes a series consisting of several episodes, and eine zweiteilige Folge refers to a two-part episode. The form dreiteilige Dokumentation likewise indicates a documentary published or presented in three parts. The word is usually written as a single unit (mehrteilige, zweiteilige, dreiteilige) and agrees with the gender, number, and case of the noun it modifies.

Grammar notes

As with other attributive adjectives in German, the ending of teilig adapts to the noun and determiner in the phrase. After a definite article, weak endings are used (die zweiteilige Folge). After an indefinite article, mixed endings occur (eine dreiteilige Folge). With bare nouns or strong contexts, even stronger endings can appear (dreiteiliges Werk). The base adjective teilig is closely tied to Teil, meaning part, and is primarily used in contexts that emphasize the division into parts.

See also

Teil (part), Teilung (division), mehrteilig (multiphase, multi-part).

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