Adjectives and verbs as nouns in German
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In German it is possible to form nouns out of adjectives or verbs: these are the substantivized adjectives or verbs. To form these words, you simply change the first letter into a capital letter and you add a definite and indefinite article.
Substantivized adjectives are nouns formed from adjectives, without their prefix or suffix. All German adjectives can be used as nouns.
This table shows some examples:
Adjective | Substantivized Adjective | Translation |
---|---|---|
gut | das Gute | good - the good |
deutsch | der Deutsche | German - the German |
schön | das Schöne | beautiful - the beauty |
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Substantivized adjectives can be masculine or feminine. In this case, they designate animate beings.
Examples:
Adjective | Substantivized adjective | Translation |
---|---|---|
jung | der Jugendliche | young - adolescent |
erwachsen | der Erwachsene | grown-up - adult |
groß | die Große | tall - the tall |
Neuter substantivized adjectives refer to qualities or certain abstract concepts.
Examples:
Adjective | Substantivized adjective | Translation |
---|---|---|
gut | das Gute | good - the good |
ganz | das Ganze | all |
grün | das Grüne | green - the green |
Although substantivized adjectives are nouns, they are declined as adjectives. You can also have look in the topic of the declension of adjectives.
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | der Alte | die Alte | das Alte | die Alten |
Genitive | des Alten | der Alten | des Alten | der Alten |
Dative | dem Alten | der Alten | dem Alten | den Alten |
Accusative | den Alten | die Alte | das Alte | die Alten |
Translation: alt - old der Alte - the old
Neuter substantivized adjectives can be used with the words etwas, nichts, wenig, and viel. However, they remain nouns and are therefore capitalized. In this case, the noun is used in the nominative case singular and ends with -s or -es.
Examples:
Example | Translation | |
---|---|---|
etwas |
|
|
nichts |
|
|
wenig |
|
|
viel |
|
|
Like substantivized adjectives, substantivized verbs are formed from a verb (infinitive or past/present participle) without any prefix or suffix.
The substantivized infinitive is formed from the infinitive of a verb. They take a capital letter. The substantivized infinitive describes an action, the act of doing something.
Substantivized infinitves are always neuter.
Verb | Substantivized infinitive | Translation |
---|---|---|
leben | das Leben | live - life |
essen | das Essen | eat - the food |
trinken | das Trinken | drink - the drink |
It is common to use these substantivized infinitives without any articles. Here are some examples.
The substantivized infinitives are declined as regular neuter nouns. They take the -s only in Genitive singular and they remain unchanged in the other cases. Normally is only used in the singular. Here you can find the declension table of das Laufen (laufen) - the walking (walking).
Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | das Laufen | des Laufens | dem Laufen | das Laufen |
Substantivized infinitives are often used in combination with bei, zu and von. Be careful: This prepositions are changing, if they are used with an article. Substantivized infinitives are similar to the English gerund with -ing or a simple infinitive. Here are some examples:
Example | Translation | |
---|---|---|
bei (+ articles) |
|
|
zu (+articles) |
|
|
von (+articles) |
|
|
You can form a noun out of the present participle of a verb. Have also a look into the topic of the present participle of verbs.
Remember: to form a present participle in German, you need to add an -end or -nd to the radical of the verb.
In this table you can find some examples.
Verb | Present participle | Noun |
---|---|---|
reisen - travel | reisend - travelling | der Reisende - traveller |
schlafen - sleep | schlafend - sleeping | der Schlafende - sleeper |
The nouns of present participle are declined as adjectives. You can find the declension of der Reisender - traveller in this table below.
Nominative | Geninitive | Dative | Accusative | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | der Reisende | des Reisenden | dem Reisenden | den Reisenden |
Plural | die Reisende | der Reisenden | den Reisenden | die Reisenden |
You can also form a noun out of the past participle of a verb. Have a look into the topic of the present participle of verbs. In this table you can find some examples.
Verb | Past participle | Noun |
---|---|---|
kaufen - buy | gekauft - bought | das Gekaufte - the bought |
geben - give | gegeben - given | das Gegebene - the given |
As for the present participle, also the substantivized past participle are declined as adjectives. You can find the declension of das Gekaufte - the bought thing in this table below.
Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | das Gekaufte | des Gekauften | dem Gekauften | den Gekauften |
Plural | die Gekauften | der Gekauften | den Gekauften | die Gekauften |
Example:
grün (green) - das Grüne
Be careful: sometimes a substantivized noun can adopt all three cases/articles (der, die, das), in that case just choose one of the articles.
In other cases it is essential to choose the right article.
If you are not sure about your answers, have a look into the course about Adjectives and verbs as nouns in German.
1. gelb - (the yellow)
2. einkaufen - (purchase)
3. gut - (the good)
4. deutsch - (German)
5. essen - (food)
6. reisen - (travel, the travelling)
7. schön - (the beautiful)
8. reich - (the rich)
9. böse - (the bad)
10. erwachsen - (adult)
Example:
grün (green) - das Grüne
Be careful: sometimes a substantivized noun can adopt all three cases/articles (der, die, das), in that case just choose one of the articles.
In other cases it is essential to choose the right article.
If you are not sure about your answers, have a look into the course about Adjectives and verbs as nouns in German.
1. gelb - (the yellow)
2. einkaufen - (purchase)
3. gut - (the good)
4. deutsch - (German)
5. essen - (food)
6. reisen - (travel, the travelling)
7. schön - (the beautiful)
8. reich - (the rich)
9. böse - (the bad)
10. erwachsen - (adult)
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My name is Karolin and since the beginning of 2017, while I was still living in Chile, I've been giving online classes. I really enjoy my work and it gives me the privilage to get to know people from all around the world, which is amazing.
Both in English and in German, I teach classes for beginners and advanced students. I speak Spanish fluently, but as I lived in Chile for around 5 years, both my pronounciation and my choice of words are influenced by that. I learned and teach the european Spanish but only for beginners (A1/A2). But if you don't mind the chilenean influence, I do teach to a higher level as well.
If you'd like to get to know me and my teaching methods, just contact me and we will do a free trial lesson (please do NOT by a lesson before the trial lesson, not every teacher is good for every student).
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Karolin has been an awesome teacher. She has been very flexible with our scheduling, while the lessons have been a great combination of being structured and fun. I would highly recommend Karolin to anyone looking to learn a new language or improve their language ability. Thanks again Karolin.
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Hi, everyone! I'm Marissa. I'm a native speaker of English from the United States. I'm currently living in Istanbul, Turkey and I can speak Turkish. I can also understand basic Spanish. I received my teaching certification in 2011 and I've been teaching ever since. I have experience working with students from all over the world, in language schools, kindergarten, exam preparation centers, and online, not only as a teacher but also as an education coordinator.
I offer my students a very structured program to help them improve their overall English level. In our trial lesson, I will evaluate your level and we will discuss your goals. I will then provide you with a coursebook and supplementary materials suitable for your level and needs. We will use these both together in class and outside of class for homework. We will cover all necessary skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation) but we will give special attention to whatever your weaknesses may be.
Alternatively, if you are not looking for such an intensive program, I also offer guided conversation practice. I am flexible! Just write me and we can start working on a plan for you. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon. :)
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Hi, I am Christin!
After training as a pastry chef and studying business administration, I traveled a lot and discovered my interest in languages. To find out more about teaching languages, I decided on further training at the Goethe Institute and completed it. During the Goethe Institute "Learn to teach German" course I was able to give individual language lessons and actively support the examination preparation for the Goethe certificate.
My lessons are needs-oriented. That means that learning goals are discussed with you and based on your level of knowledge. Whether grammar, sentence structure, pronunciation, expression or the practice of communication situations: German as a foreign and second language classes are flexible and take place in a group or one-to-one lessons with individual support and are based on your wishes and requirements. The teaching of content and topics takes place according to the respective language level. Building vocabulary, grammar and means of speaking are structured and conveyed logically building on each other. Let's get to know each other in a free trial class. I am looking forward to meeting you!
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Hi, I am Christin!
After training as a pastry chef and studying business administration, I traveled a lot and discovered my interest in languages. To find out more about teaching languages, I decided on further training at the Goethe Institute and completed it. During the Goethe Institute "Learn to teach German" course I was able to give individual language lessons and actively support the examination preparation for the Goethe certificate.
My lessons are needs-oriented. That means that learning goals are discussed with you and based on your level of knowledge. Whether grammar, sentence structure, pronunciation, expression or the practice of communication situations: German as a foreign and second language classes are flexible and take place in a group or one-to-one lessons with individual support and are based on your wishes and requirements. The teaching of content and topics takes place according to the respective language level. Building vocabulary, grammar and means of speaking are structured and conveyed logically building on each other. Let's get to know each other in a free trial class. I am looking forward to meeting you!
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Christin is a great teacher. She is very helpful and flexible, and her lessons are always varied and interesting. I'd recommend her to everyone who'd like to learn German!
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So with me you can learn all the tipps to improve or learn German. I also worked as an Engineer for several years so we can as well work on your vocabulary in a technical level.
I am a great fan of new cultures and languages.
Feel free to contact me for a class :)
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Olivia has been amazing in helping learn German in a crash course fashion. She has materials for exactly the things I needed to know and helped me understand the bare minimum (which is what I was going for) to help me get my ideas across and understand the structure of what people are saying. She is a fantastic teacher.
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Hello =)
My name is Karolin and since the beginning of 2017, while I was still living in Chile, I've been giving online classes. I really enjoy my work and it gives me the privilage to get to know people from all around the world, which is amazing.
Both in English and in German, I teach classes for beginners and advanced students. I speak Spanish fluently, but as I lived in Chile for around 5 years, both my pronounciation and my choice of words are influenced by that. I learned and teach the european Spanish but only for beginners (A1/A2). But if you don't mind the chilenean influence, I do teach to a higher level as well.
If you'd like to get to know me and my teaching methods, just contact me and we will do a free trial lesson (please do NOT by a lesson before the trial lesson, not every teacher is good for every student).
See you soon!
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Karolin has been an awesome teacher. She has been very flexible with our scheduling, while the lessons have been a great combination of being structured and fun. I would highly recommend Karolin to anyone looking to learn a new language or improve their language ability. Thanks again Karolin.
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Hi, everyone! I'm Marissa. I'm a native speaker of English from the United States. I'm currently living in Istanbul, Turkey and I can speak Turkish. I can also understand basic Spanish. I received my teaching certification in 2011 and I've been teaching ever since. I have experience working with students from all over the world, in language schools, kindergarten, exam preparation centers, and online, not only as a teacher but also as an education coordinator.
I offer my students a very structured program to help them improve their overall English level. In our trial lesson, I will evaluate your level and we will discuss your goals. I will then provide you with a coursebook and supplementary materials suitable for your level and needs. We will use these both together in class and outside of class for homework. We will cover all necessary skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation) but we will give special attention to whatever your weaknesses may be.
Alternatively, if you are not looking for such an intensive program, I also offer guided conversation practice. I am flexible! Just write me and we can start working on a plan for you. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon. :)
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Marissa is a very friendly teacher. She adapts her lessons to her students and helps them reach their goals.
This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
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Maria is a very experienced teacher. She really loves teaching and transmit this passion to her students. Excellent teacher.
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