what is it?
In German, any adjective or participle can be used as a noun. The word is capitalized like all German nouns, but it keeps adjective endings — it declines exactly as it would if a noun followed it. So bekannt (known/acquainted) becomes der Bekannte, ein Bekannter, die Bekannten and so on. The grammatical gender follows natural gender for people (masculine for men, feminine for women) and is neuter for abstract concepts.
when to use it
People. Use a nominalized adjective to refer to a person defined by a quality or status: der/die Bekannte (acquaintance), der/die Deutsche (German person), der/die Kranke (sick person).
Abstract concepts (neuter). Use the neuter form to express an abstract idea: das Wichtigste (the most important thing), das Gute (the good thing/what is good).
After etwas, nichts, viel, alles. When a nominalized adjective follows one of these indefinite pronouns, it is always neuter and takes the strong ending -es: etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes, viel Interessantes, alles Gute (note: alles already provides a definite-type ending, so the adjective takes the weak ending -e).
formation
The nominalized adjective takes the same ending it would have as an attributive adjective before a noun. The article (or its absence) determines whether the ending is weak (after a definite article or dieser/jeder) or mixed/strong (after an indefinite article or no article). The table below shows the nominative and accusative forms for bekannt as a model.
| context | masculine | feminine | plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| definite article (nom.) | der Bekannte | die Bekannte | die Bekannten |
| definite article (acc.) | den Bekannten | die Bekannte | die Bekannten |
| indefinite article (nom.) | ein Bekannter | eine Bekannte | — Bekannte |
| indefinite article (acc.) | einen Bekannten | eine Bekannte | — Bekannte |
Neuter abstract nouns follow the same pattern: das Wichtigste (weak, after definite article), etwas Wichtiges (strong, after etwas which provides no article ending).
The rule of thumb: ask yourself what ending the adjective would take if a noun like Mann / Frau / Leute / Ding followed it — then drop the noun and capitalize the adjective.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Freezing one form instead of declining. Learners sometimes use the same form in every context: *ein Bekannte or *die Deutsche for the plural. The nominalized adjective must decline fully. Plural with definite article: die Bekannten; without article: Bekannte. Masculine nominative after ein: ein Bekannter, not *ein Bekannte.
Lowercasing the nominalized adjective. Writing *etwas neues is wrong. Once an adjective functions as a noun, it is capitalized in all positions: etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes, das Gute.
Missing -es after etwas/nichts. Writing *etwas Neue omits the required strong neuter ending. Because etwas and nichts carry no article ending, the adjective must supply the strong neuter nominative/accusative ending -es: etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Wir haben heute viele ___ getroffen, die wir lange nicht gesehen hatten.
Fill in the blank with the correct form of the nominalized adjective.