verschiedenen

Verschiedenen is the declined form of the German adjective verschieden, meaning various or different. It is used to describe plural nouns and signals diversity among the items referenced. In typical sentences it appears after a definite article or other determiner, producing the ending -en, as in die verschiedenen Arten or den verschiedenen Gründen.

Grammatical notes: In plural with a definite article or determiner, adjectives take the -en ending (die verschiedenen Arten, den verschiedenen Wegen, der verschiedenen Gründe). Without a determiner, the plural form of verschieden is usually different: verschiedene Arten, verschiedene Gründe. The predicative form is also common, as in Die Gründe sind verschieden, where keine -en ending is used because the adjective follows a verb. The word is primarily an attributive adjective in everyday usage and can be replaced by synonyms such as vielfältig, unterschiedlich, mannigfaltig.

Usage and examples: Verschiedenen is common in discussions of categories, options, or observations, e.g., Wir diskutieren verschiedene Lösungen, es gibt verschiedene Gründe. Die verschiedenen Ansätze wurden verglichen, um die beste Option zu identifizieren. Collocations include verschiedene Arten, verschiedene Möglichkeiten, verschiedene Meinungen. The term remains neutral and formal, suitable for informative writing, reports, and encyclopedic text.

See also: verschieden (the base form and related phrases), Vielfalt, Variation.