Nominalized Adjectives for People
Learn how German adjectives can be used as nouns for people. Practise capitalization, gender, number, and adjective endings in all four cases.
Explanation
When an adjective becomes a noun
A German adjective can name a person without a following noun. It is then **capitalized**, but it keeps an **adjective ending**:
- ein **neuer Kollege** → ein **Neuer**
- eine **neue Kollegin** → eine **Neue**
- die **jungen Leute** → die **Jungen**
The article and ending show case, gender, and number. The forms therefore follow ordinary adjective-declension patterns.
Forms with the definite article
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der Fremde | die Fremde | die Fremden |
| Accusative | den Fremden | die Fremde | die Fremden |
| Dative | dem Fremden | der Fremden | den Fremden |
| Genitive | des Fremden | der Fremden | der Fremden |
Forms with an ein-word
| Case | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein Fremder | eine Fremde |
| Accusative | einen Fremden | eine Fremde |
| Dative | einem Fremden | einer Fremden |
| Genitive | eines Fremden | einer Fremden |
There is no indefinite article in the plural: **Fremde** warten draußen. With *keine*: **keine Fremden**.
Common person labels include **Bekannte**, **Angestellte**, **Arbeitslose**, **Erwachsene**, **Jugendliche**, **Reisende**, **Verletzte**, and nationalities such as **Deutsche**.
A regular noun has its own declension: **ein Freund, einem Freund**. A nominalized adjective changes with the article and case: **ein Bekannter, einem Bekannten**. Remember capitalization, the gender signal in article and ending, and plural forms such as **die Reisenden** for a mixed group.
Exercises
- Sort the forms: regular noun or nominalized adjective? (3)
- Complete the full nominalized form with the correct ending and capitalization. (11)
- Complete the connected texts with the correct forms from the word bank. (3)
B1 · German · Grammar