German Grammar A–Z
Look up German grammar topics A–Z, organized by category and level — with clear explanations and examples.
Nominalizing Adjectives and Participles in German
Adjectives and participles can also be used as nouns when they represent people or abstract things (things that cannot be touched). The process by which adjectives and participles are turned into nouns is called nominalization of adjectives and nominalization of participles. In today's article we will explore this topic together. Let's get started!
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Nominalization of adjectives |
Nominalization of participles |
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- When used as a noun, an adjective or participle is capitalized, but the adjective ending rules must still be followed. Example: Ein fremder Mann klingelt an der Tür. = Ein Fremder klingelt an der Tür. (A strange man rings the doorbell.) → After being capitalized, fremd must take an adjective ending. Because Mann is a masculine noun in the Nominativ, the noun form of fremd must also take the masculine ending in the Nominativ: Fremder |
- Like adjectives, participles I and participles II functioning as adjectives can all be nominalized to become nouns.
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- When an adjective/participle is used as a noun, the original noun is dropped without affecting the meaning of the sentence. Nouns such as "Mensch", "Mann" or "Frau" are often omitted, because we usually know who we are talking about. |
Partizip I (Partizip I) Beim Flugzeugabsturz gab es keine überlebenden Menschen. = Beim Flugzeugabsturz gab es keine Überlebenden. (There were no survivors in the plane crash.) |
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!!!! Note: After etwas, nichts, wenig, viel, -es must be added to the adjective that has been turned into a noun. Ich lerne viel Neues. (I am learning a lot of new things.) |
Partizip II (Partizip II) Der vermisste Mann konnte noch nicht gefunden werden. = Der Vermisste konnte noch nicht gefunden werden. (The missing man has not yet been found.) |
