Adjectives as Nouns: vedúci, známy
Adjectives Used as Nouns
Vedúci (manager), známy (acquaintance), cestujúci (passenger), chorý (patient) and hostinský (innkeeper) are nouns in meaning but adjectives in form. They change like adjectives: dal som to vedúcemu, stretol som známeho.
How It Works
Adjectives that became nouns. Some adjectives and participles are used on their own to name people:
- like pekný: známy (acquaintance), chorý (patient, sick person), dospelý (adult), hostinský (innkeeper)
- like cudzí, mostly present participles in -úci / -iaci: vedúci (manager, head), cestujúci (passenger), pracujúci (working people)
Adjective endings in every case. The noun meaning does not change the form. Use the adjective endings you already know:
- genitive and accusative: bez vedúceho, stretol som známeho
- dative: vedúcemu, známemu (for a woman: vedúcej, známej)
- instrumental: s vedúcim, so známym
- plural for men: známi, chorí, cestujúci; other cases: cestujúcich, cestujúcim, s cestujúcimi (see plural adjectives in the cases)
Gender follows the person. A woman is vedúca, známa, cestujúca, with feminine adjective endings: Naša vedúca je na dovolenke.
A note on známy. Môj známy means an acquaintance or someone you know, usually less close than a priateľ or kamarát. As an ordinary adjective, známy means well-known: známy herec (a famous actor).
Examples (6)
- Musím sa spýtať vedúceho.
I have to ask the manager.
Word by Word: I-must ask of-manager.
Spýtať sa takes the genitive: vedúceho, like pekného.
- Včera som stretol jedného známeho zo školy.
Yesterday I ran into someone I know from school.
Word by Word: Yesterday I met one acquaintance from school.
- Cestujúci, prosím, nastúpte.
Passengers, please board.
Word by Word: Passengers, please get-on.
- Lekár vyšetril všetkých chorých.
The doctor examined all the patients.
Word by Word: Doctor examined all sick-ones.
Chorých is the adjective's genitive-accusative plural.
- Naša vedúca je na dovolenke.
Our manager is on holiday.
Word by Word: Our manager(f) is on holiday.
- Poslal som to známej do Košíc.
I sent it to a woman I know in Košice.
Word by Word: I-sent it acquaintance(f, dat) to Košice.
Common Mistakes
Giving vedúci a noun ending in the dative.
Dal som tú správu vedúcovi.Dal som tú správu vedúcemu.Vedúci keeps adjective endings, so the dative is vedúcemu, like cudziemu, not the noun ending -ovi.
Using a noun ending in the instrumental.
Hovoril som s jedným cestujúcom.Hovoril som s jedným cestujúcim.The instrumental of an adjective ends in -ým / -im: s cestujúcim, so známym.
Using the feminine plural form for a group that includes men.
Všetci cestujúce museli vystúpiť.Všetci cestujúci museli vystúpiť.For men or mixed groups, the plural is cestujúci, matching všetci. Cestujúce is only for women.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Adjectives Used as Nouns, learn Present Active Participles. vedúci is formed from a participle.
Related Patterns
- Hard Adjectives Like pekný
Známy, chorý and hostinský take the pekný endings.
Level 2 - Soft Adjectives Like cudzí
Vedúci and cestujúci take the cudzí endings.
Level 2 - Plural Adjectives in the Cases
Their plural forms are the plural adjective endings: cestujúcich, s cestujúcimi.
Level 3 - -teľ / -ár / -ník / -čWords for People Who Do Things
Most words for people are real nouns with suffixes such as -teľ and -ník instead.
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice Adjectives as Nouns: vedúci, známy in Bubblegum
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