Adjectives Used as Nouns
பெயரடையில் இருந்து பெயர்ச்சொல்
German can turn an adjective directly into a noun while keeping its adjective ending — der Deutsche ('the German man'), das Gute ('the good thing') — and Tamil has a strikingly similar trick of its own.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
der Deutsche ≈ Tamil's நல்லவன் (adjective + gender ending fused into a noun)
der Deutsche (the German man — deutsch + adjective ending -e, capitalized as a noun)
நல்லவன் (the good man — நல்ல + அவன், fused into a single noun)
Tamil regularly turns an adjective into a noun by fusing it with a gender/number pronoun ending: நல்ல ('good') plus அவன் ('he') contracts into நல்லவன் ('the good man' / 'a good man'). German does something parallel — deutsch ('German', the adjective) keeps its normal adjective ending, as if a noun like Mann were still implied, and simply gets capitalized to become its own noun. In both languages you're not learning a new word; you're recognizing that an adjective, dressed in the right ending, can stand in for the noun it used to describe.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| German | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| der Deutsche | dair DOY-cheh | ஜெர்மானியன்jermāṉiyan | the German (man) |
| die Deutsche | dee DOY-cheh | ஜெர்மானியப் பெண்jermāṉiyap peṇ | the German (woman) |
| das Gute | dahs GOO-teh | நல்லதுnalladhu | the good (thing) |
| der/die Kranke | dair/dee KRAHN-keh | நோயாளிnōyāḷi | the sick person |
| der/die Reisende | dair/dee RY-zen-deh | பயணிpayaṇi | the traveler |