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General Info
In German you can use Adjectives and Participles as Nouns. Then they mostly stand for people or abstracts (things you can't touch). They are nouns, but you still must decline them like Adjectives. You usually omit the noun because it is obvious and/or common knowledge. The Adjective then becomes a noun and must be capitalized.
Example:
- „Ein fremder Mann klingelt an der Tür.“ = „Ein Fremder klingelt an der Tür.“
- „Ein obdachloser Mensch schläft auf der Straße.“ = „Ein Obdachloser schläft auf der Straße.“
Comparison
Usually, the following applies: Article + Adjective/Participle + Noun
- „Sandra hat schon wieder einen neuen Freund.“
When using Adjective/Participle as noun, remove the original noun (it must be obvious what we are talking about):
- „Sandra hat schon wieder einen Neuen.“
„Freund“ is obvious here and can be omitted. The Adjective becomes a noun, and you must capitalize it. However, you still have to apply the Adjective Declension. Nouns such as „Mensch“ or „Frau“ are often omitted because we usually know who we are talking about.
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Common Examples
Adjective as Noun (Adjektive als Nomen)
Example:
- „Die Deutschen arbeiten viel.“
Participles as Nouns (Partizipien als Nomen)
As described in lesson 4, you can use Participles as Adjectives. Accordingly, we can omit the Noun after them - if obvious - and use them as Nouns, like any other Adjective.
Example:
- „Beim Flugzeugabsturz gab es keine Überlebenden.“
Example:
- „Der Vermisste konnte noch nicht gefunden werden.“
Attention:
All endings in the examples refer to the Nominative case. So you have to keep the Adjective Declension and you have to adjust the ending according to the noun you drop.
Summary
- When you use Adjectives or Participles as Nouns, you usually omit the noun (normally „Mann“, „Frau“, „Mensch“) because it is obvious or universally known.
- The Adjective keeps it´s ending determined by the Adjektivdeklination (Adjective Declension).
Related Topics:
Entire lesson in German only: Partizipien & Adjektive als Nomen
- Was ist Adjektivdeklination? (What is Adjective?)
- Adjektivdeklination (Adjective Declension)
- Adjektivdeklination - Schritt für Schritt (Adjective Declension - a step by step guide)
- Partizipien als Adjektive (Participle as Adjectives)
- Steigerung der Adjektive (Comparison of Adjectives)
- Adjektivbildung (Adjective Formation)
In order to use Adjective intensification, the Comparative and the Superlative correctly, you must also be familiar with Articles and the German cases:
- Bestimmte Artikel (Definite Article)
- Unbestimmter Artikel (Indefinite Article)
- Possessivartikel (Possessive Article)
- Negativartikel "kein" (Negative Article "kein")
- Nullartikel (Zero Article)
- Deutsche Fälle (German Cases)
You can find an overview of all topics under German Grammar.
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