zahlreiche

Zahlreiche is a German adjective meaning "numerous" or "a great many." It is used attributively before plural nouns to emphasize a large quantity, often in formal or journalistic contexts. Examples include: "Zahlreiche Belege sprechen dafür" and "Zahlreiche Studien wurden durchgeführt."

Morphology and usage: like other adjectives in German, zahlreich declines according to the presence of a determiner and the case. Without an article, the attributive form before a plural noun is zahlreiche, as in "Zahlreiche Belege wurden gefunden." With a definite article or a demonstrative, it takes the ending -en in the plural: "die zahlreichen Belege," "den zahlreichen Beispielen," "der zahlreichen Stimmen." In genitive plural it appears as "der zahlreichen Beispiele." The word is not a noun; it remains an adjective and pairs with a plural noun.

Etymology: zahlreich is built from Zahl (number) and reich (rich, abundant). The compound conveys abundance of numbers and is the standard literary term for indicating many items. In English, it is commonly translated as "numerous" or "countless" depending on context.

Usage notes: zahlreich is somewhat more formal or emphatic than simpler synonyms such as viele or zahlreiche Beispiele. It is widely used in reporting, academic writing, and formal prose to indicate a quantitatively large but not necessarily endless set. It can be combined with various plural nouns to convey the scope of evidence, cases, participants, or items.

See also: viele, eine Vielzahl von, reich an.