German Grammar - Weak Masculine - N Nouns, Adjectival Nouns, Infinitive Nouns - Grammatik Der Deutschen Sprache - Schwache Substantive, Adjektivnomen

German Grammar: Weak Masculine -n Nouns, Adjectival No...
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German nouns
Weak nouns & nouns from adjectives and verb innitives
Identifying nouns | Nouns and gender | Gender patterns | Nouns with 2 genders | Compound nouns Plural forms | Plural patterns | Weak nouns | Adjectival nouns | Infinitive nouns | GRAMMAR INDEX
Weak nouns / Masculine -n nouns

Weak nouns, also called masculine n-nouns, are a group of masculine nouns in German that have a special declension. In addition to inflecting their article, these nouns themselves add an -en or -n ending (-n if the noun already ends in -e) in every case and number except the nominative singular.
singular plural singular plural
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Weak nouns existed in Old English as well. Notice how closely the declension of the OE word nama (name) resembles the modern German weak noun Name: sing. nom. nama acc. dat. gen. naman naman naman sing. nom. Name acc. dat. gen. Namen Namen Namen pl. naman naman namum namena pl. Namen Namen Namen Namen
Nominative
der Neffe den Neffen dem Neffen des Neffen
die Neffen die Neffen den Neffen der Neffen
der Held die Helden den Helden dem Helden des Helden die Helden den Helden der Helden
Accusative
Dative
Genitive
Many of the weak nouns refer to people or animals: der Student, der Junge, der Herr, der Nachbar, der Franzose, der Elephant, der Hase, der Affe. Weak nouns that do not refer to people or animals, add an additional -s suffix in the genitive singular.
singular Nominative plural singular plural
In fact, both German and English, as many of the other Germanic languages, had a system of noun inflection. In both languages, the inflections were eventually lost, absorbed into the noun root, or transferred to the article. The weak nouns are hence among the last remnants of the older system of usage.
der Name den Namen dem Namen
die Namen die Namen den Namen
der Fels den Felsen dem Felsen des Felsens
die Felsen die Felsen den Felsen der Felsen
Accusative
Dative
Genitive
des der Namens Namen
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Most masculine -n nouns are easily identifiable. They are:
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1. Masculine nouns that end in an unstressed -e: EX: der Jude, der Lwe, der Erbe. 2. Nouns of foreign origin that have their accent on the final syllable. The foreign origin is often evident in the word suffixes (-ant, -ast, -ent, -et, -ist, -nom, -oph, -ot, etc.): EX: der Polizist, der Assistent, der Philosoph, der Despot, der Astronom, der Gymnasiast. 3. A handful of additional one-syllable masculine nouns that designate male beings, including animals: EX: der Br, der Christ, der Mensch, der Prinz, der Narr, der Bauer.
Within these rules, there are two anomalies, der Herr, which takes an -n ending in the singular declension forms and an -en in the plural forms, and das Herz, which is a neuter noun that takes on the masculine -n noun suffixes, except for in the accusative singular.
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der Herr
singular Nominative plural
das Herz
singular plural
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der Herr die Herren den Herrn dem Herrn des Herrn die Herren den Herren der Herren
das Herz die Herzen das Herz die Herzen dem Herzen den Herzen
Accusative
Dative Web vistawide.com
Genitive
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des der Herzens Herzen
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Adjectival nouns
Some masculine and feminine nouns that designate people are sometimes formed from adjectives or participles used as adjectives. While it is possible to spontaneously create an adjectival noun as needed, some such nouns have become preferred designations for specific people or things.
adjective definition adjectival noun definition
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angestellt arm bekannt blind
employed poor known blind
der / die Angestellte
employee
Some adjectival nouns are formed from the past participles of verbs, which are sometimes used as adjectives in German. For example: fangen = to catch
der / die Arme poor person der / die Bekannte der / die Blinde acquaintance blind person
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gefangen = caught der/die Gefangene = prisoner anstellen = to hire, employ angestellt = employed der/die Angestellte = employee The same is true of present participles, which are formed in German by adding a -d suffix to the verb infinitive. For example: reisen = to travel reisend = traveling der/die Reisende = traveler stehen = to stand stehend = standing der/die Stehende = person who is standing
deutsch
German
der / die Deutsche der / die Erwachsene der / die Fremde der / die Gefangene der / die Gelehrte der / die Geliebte der / die Jugendliche der / die Kranke der / die Reisende der / die Tote der / die Verletzte der / die Verlobte der / die Verwandte
German person adult foreigner prisoner scholar lover adolescent sick person traveler dead person injured person fianc(e) relative
erwachsen grown fremd gefangen gelehrt geliebt foreign captive educated loved
jugendlich youthful krank reisend tot verletzt verlobt verwandt sick traveling dead hurt engaged related
Neuter nouns formed from adjectives refer to ideas, concepts, or abstractions.

adjective definition adjectival noun definition
Alles Gute! is a common adjectival noun phrase that is used to wish someone well. It essentially means Best wishes!
bestganz gut
best whole good
das Beste das Ganze das Gute das Mgliche das Neue das Richtige das Schne das Teure das Wichtige
the best (thing) the whole (thing) that which is good that which is possible that which is new that which is right that which is beautiful that which is expensive that which is important
mglich possible neu richtig schn teuer wichtig new right beautiful expensive important
Adjective nouns are always capitalized and take the same endings that they would have as adjectives.
der / die Bekannte, -n acquaintance The convention of
masculine feminine plural
das Bekannte the known neuter
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capitalizing nouns in German became standardized in the mid-18th century with Johann Christoph Gottscheds Grundlegung einer deutschen Sprachkunst (1748).
Nom der Bekannte ein Bekannter Acc
die Bekannte eine Bekannte die Bekannte eine Bekannte der Bekannten einer Bekannten der Bekannten einer Bekannten
die Bekannten keine Bekannten Bekannte die Bekannten keine Bekannten Bekannte den Bekannten keinen Bekannten Bekannten der Bekannten keiner Bekannten Bekannter
das Bekannte ein Bekanntes Bekanntes das Bekannte ein Bekanntes Bekanntes dem Bekannten einem Bekannten Bekanntem des Bekannten
den Bekannten einen Bekannten dem Bekannten einem Bekannten des Bekannten eines Bekannten
Dat
Gen
Remember that adjective endings are determined by the case, gender, and number of the noun they describe. The same applies to adjective nouns, except that the gender of the adjectival noun depends on whether it refers to a male or female person or people or whether it refers to an abstract concept or idea.
Die Verletzten wurden ins Krankenhaus gebracht. In New York haben wir zwei nette Deutsche kennen gelernt. Die Namen der Jugendlichen hat er vergessen. Als er ankam, hat er das Neuste erzhlt. Ich tue immer mein Bestes.
The injured people were brought to the hospital. In New York we met two nice Germans. He forgot the names of the teenagers. When he arrived, he reported the latest. I always do my best.
When neuter adjective nouns follow the undeclinable indefinite pronouns etwas, nichts, viel, and wenig, they must take the strong adjective endings because these pronouns do not carry any case information. When the adjectival nouns follow the declinable pronoun alles, they take weak adjective endings because the pronoun alles is declined to carry the pertinent case information.
Sie schenkt mir immer etwas Teures zum Geburtstag. Er hat nicht viel Wichtiges zu sagen. Heute muss ich mich mit viel Neuem beschftigen.
She always gives me something expensive for my birthday. He doesn't have much of importance to say. Today I have to occupy myself with lots of new things.
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Wir haben alles Mgliche schon probiert.
We have tried everything possible.
Innitive nouns
Just about any verb can be made into a noun by capitalizing the infinitive. Such nouns are always neuter and they usually correspond to the gerund (-ing) form in English.
verb definition infinitive noun definition
einkaufen flstern gehen jammern lachen
to shop to whisper to go to whine to laugh
das Einkaufen das Flstern das Gehen das Jammern das Lachen
shopping whispering going, walking whining laughing
schwimmen to swim trinken to drink
das swimming Schwimmen das Trinken drinking
Whereas English typically uses such gerunds without an article, German noun gerunds are often accompanied by the definite article.
Das Gehen fllt mir schwer. In meinen freien Stunden geniee ich das Lesen spannender Kriminalromane. Wann fangen wir mit dem Kochen an?
Walking is difficult for me. In my free time I enjoy reading suspenseful mysteries. When will we start cooking?
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German Grammar - Weak Masculine - N Nouns, Adjectival Nouns, Infinitive Nouns - Grammatik Der Deutschen Sprache - Schwache Substantive, Adjektivnomen

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German Grammar - Weak Masculine - N Nouns, Adjectival Nouns, Infinitive Nouns - Grammatik Der Deutschen Sprache - Schwache Substantive, Adjektivnomen

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German Grammar: Weak Masculine -n Nouns, Adjectival No...

Weak nouns / Masculine -n nouns

Learn Language French Language Lesson Learn German Grammar

der Neffe den Neffen dem Neffen des Neffen

die Neffen die Neffen den Neffen der Neffen

der Name den Namen dem Namen

die Namen die Namen den Namen

der Fels den Felsen dem Felsen des Felsens

die Felsen die Felsen den Felsen der Felsen

des der Namens Namen