Language/French/Grammar/Adjectives-used-as-nouns

Adjectives used as nouns

In French it is almost always possible to convert an adjective into a noun simply by placing an article in front of it:

French	English
Je ne veux que les mûrs	I only want the ripe ones
Nous prendrons les grands	We'll take the big ones
Les petits sont déjà partis	The small ones have already gone
Les gentils gagnent à la fin	The goodies win in the end
Les méchants sont punis	The baddies are punished
J'adore le rustique	I love rural styles
Elle aurait préféré du moderne	She would have preferred something up-to-date
Le plus énervant, c'est sa voix	It's her voice that is the most annoying thing
Le rouge te va bien	Red suits you
L'important c'est de partir tôt	The important thing is to leave early

As can be seen, because English does not permit the creation of nouns with such freedom, translations either have to use vague terms like 'ones', 'thing(s)' or it is necessary to rephrase the sentence.

NB: Compare the post-verbal use of adjectives as nouns with the post-verbal use of numbers and quantifiers as nouns:

French	English
Nous prendrons les grands	We'll take the big ones
Nous en prendrons deux	We'll take two
Nous avons acheté des ovales	We bought some oval ones
Nous en avons acheté plusieurs	We bought several

With numbers and quantifiers en must be inserted in front of the verb. Adjectives of nationality and nouns of nationality are usually identical in form when used as adjectives or nouns EXCEPT that the nouns are written with capital letters:

• Elle est américaine

She is American

• Tout Français qui se respecte aime le fromage

Every true French person loves cheese

• Elle est de nationalité française

She is of Trench nationality

• C'est une Américaine

She is an American