Nominalized Adjectives for People
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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