Dutch adjectives without an expressed noun

Welke fiets wil je? De rode. (Which bike do you want? The red one.) leaves fiets (bike) unspoken because it is clear from context. Dutch also has adjective-based nouns such as de zieke (the sick person), de zieken (the sick people), and het mooie (the nice part or aspect). These forms look similar, but their articles and endings follow different rules.

First decide which pattern you need. A stand-in keeps the adjective form that the full noun phrase would use. Adjective-based person and abstract nouns normally use the -e form. A plural person-noun adds -n. After iets (something), niets (nothing), and similar words, the adjective normally uses -s.

In the first two rows, the missing noun is still part of the meaning. The person and abstract nouns can be understood without supplying one particular noun from the context. In iets moois, no noun has been dropped; this is a separate -s construction.

Only a true plural person-noun takes -n. If a plural noun can be recovered directly from context, the adjective keeps the form it had before that noun. An omitted noun for things never takes the person-plural -n.

With a concrete noun omitted, keep that noun's article: De derde oplossing is de goede. (The third solution is the right one.) Because oplossing (solution) is a de-word, the stand-in uses de. An abstract idea is a het-word: Doe altijd het goede. (Always do what is right.) A person-noun such as zieke is also a de-word: de zieke. Choose the article from the pattern and meaning, not from the adjective alone.