Substantivierte Adjektive
German can turn an adjective directly into a noun, capitalizing it, while it keeps behaving like an adjective for endings. This is very common for describing people by a trait or nationality: der Deutsche (the German man), die Bekannte (the female acquaintance), das Neue (the new thing).
A nominalized adjective is capitalized like a noun, but its ending still follows normal adjective-ending rules depending on the article in front of it (Lesson 22).
| With article | Without article |
|---|---|
| der Deutsche (the German man) | ein Deutscher (a German man) |
| die Deutsche (the German woman) | eine Deutsche (a German woman) |
| die Deutschen (the Germans, plural) | Deutsche (Germans, no article) |
Notice: with der, the ending is -e; with ein, the ending shifts to -er for masculine, because ein itself does not signal gender the way der does. This is the exact same rule as regular adjective endings after der- vs ein-words.
Quick check: "a German man" (no article marking gender) - ein ______?
Neuter nominalized adjectives (das + adjective-e) describe an abstract quality or a general "thing," very common in opinions and formal writing.
Das Neue an dieser Stadt gefällt mir. (I like the new thing about this city.)
Er erzählte mir etwas Interessantes. (He told me something interesting.)
After etwas/nichts (something/nothing), the ending is always -es: etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes (nothing special).
Quick check: what ending follows etwas or nichts on a nominalized adjective?
| der/die Bekannte | acquaintance | der/die Angestellte | employee |
| der/die Verwandte | relative | der/die Arbeitslose | unemployed person |
| der/die Erwachsene | adult | der/die Reisende | traveler |
Full reference: many of these overlap with nationality words and job/state descriptions - useful shorthand once you notice the pattern instead of memorizing each one separately.
Quick check: what is "die Angestellte"?
1. "the Germans" (plural, definite) - die ______
2. "nothing special" - nichts ______
Aligned with standard Goethe-Zertifikat B1 / telc B1 exam syllabus topics.
Want to practice describing people around you using nominalized adjectives? Ask your teaching agent.