B1 · Nouns: gender, plural, compounds
Nominalisation: das Essen
das Lesen, das Beste, der Deutsche
Any infinitive can become a neuter noun, and any adjective can become one that still takes endings.
At a glance
- Remember
- Capitalised, but still an adjective underneath.
- Form
- das Lesen, das Warten, das Raucheninfinitive as noun
- Signal words
- das
- etwas
- nichts
- viel
- wenig
- beim
- zum
- -es
- Trap
- Wrong:Ich bin ein Deutsche.Right:Ich bin ein Deutscher.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself3 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in German.
negation
| infinitive as noun | das Lesen, das Warten, das Rauchen |
| adjective as noun | der Alte, eine Deutsche, das Beste |
| after etwas / nichts | etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes |
| superlative | das Wichtigste, das Schönste |
| with a preposition | beim Lesen, zum Mitnehmen |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
An infinitive used as a noun is neuter and is capitalised.
Das Rauchen ist hier verboten.Smoking is forbidden here.
An adjective used as a noun is capitalised and keeps its adjective endings.
Ein Bekannter hat mir das erzählt.An acquaintance told me that.
After etwas, nichts, viel and wenig the adjective takes -es and a capital.
Gibt es etwas Neues?Is there anything new?
A nominalised infinitive often replaces an English -ing form after a preposition.
Beim Lesen ist er eingeschlafen.He fell asleep while reading.
Example sentences
Das Warten hat sich gelohnt.The wait was worth it.
Das ist das Beste daran.That is the best thing about it.
Eine Deutsche hat uns geholfen.A German woman helped us.
Ich habe nichts Besonderes vor.I have nothing special planned.
Für hier oder zum Mitnehmen?For here or to take away?
8 more example sentences
Das Kochen macht mir Spaß.I enjoy cooking.
Er hat viel Interessantes erzählt.He told us a lot of interesting things.
Das Schwierigste kommt noch.The hardest part is still to come.
Ein Fremder hat nach dir gefragt.A stranger asked for you.
Beim Umsteigen habe ich die Tasche vergessen.I forgot the bag while changing trains.
Wir wünschen Ihnen alles Gute.We wish you all the best.
Die Verletzten wurden sofort versorgt.The injured were treated at once.
Es gab wenig Neues zu berichten.There was little new to report.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The word looks like a noun and behaves like an adjective, so it needs the ending the adjective would have had. After ein a masculine takes -er, which is exactly the ending ein itself cannot supply. Der Deutsche, ein Deutscher, die Deutschen — three forms of one word, and the article decides which.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
German turns an infinitive into a noun by capitalising it and giving it das: das Lesen, das Rauchen, das Warten. The result is always neuter, always singular, and completely productive — it works on a verb you met a minute ago.
Adjectives become nouns the same way, but they keep their adjective endings: der Deutsche, ein Deutscher, die Deutschen. That is the part that catches people out — the word looks like a noun and declines like an adjective, because that is what it still is with the noun left out.
Both constructions let German say in one word what English needs a phrase for: das Wichtigsteis "the most important thing"etwas Neuesis "something new"nichts Besonderesis "nothing special" After etwas, nichts, viel and wenig the adjective takes -es and a capital letter.
A closer look
Why German writes an -ing with a preposition
English uses the -ing form after prepositions: "while reading", "before leaving", "instead of waiting". German has no such form and reaches for the nominalised infinitive instead: beim Lesen, vor dem Gehen, statt des Wartens.
That is why so much administrative German is nouns. Nach Bearbeitung Ihres Antrags, bei Vorlage des Ausweises, zur Vermeidung von Missverständnissen — each of them is a verb wearing a noun's clothes, and reading them back as verbs is the fastest way through a German form.
Exceptions and special cases2
Exception
When the nominalised adjective refers to a person
then it changes with gender and number like any adjective: der Angestellte, die Angestellte, die Angestellten.
Die Angestellten haben abgestimmt.The employees have voted.
Why? It is still an adjective describing an unnamed person, so it agrees with that person.
Exception
When the word has become a full noun in its own right
then it stops declining as an adjective: der Beamte is still an adjective, but das Essen is a noun.
Das Essen war ausgezeichnet.The food was excellent.
Why? Frequent nominalisations drift into the ordinary noun system over time, and the two groups have no sharp border.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
alles Gute, and why it is accusative
The fixed good wishes — alles Gute, viel Glück, gute Besserung, schönes Wochenende — are the remains of a full sentence with ich wünsche dir left off, so each is an accusative object with the verb missing. The -e of Gute comes from alles, which behaves like a definite article.
Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!Happy birthday!
Worth knowing
zum plus infinitive is a whole construction
Zum Mitnehmen, zum Essen, zum Lachen, nicht zum Aushalten — the pattern says what something is for or what it provokes, and it is one of the most productive short forms in everyday German. English needs a different phrase for each one.
Das ist ja nicht zum Aushalten.That really is unbearable.
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