Adjectives as Nouns
In English, we often use an adjective as if it were a noun to talk about an entire group of people—for example, "the young" or "the rich." Danish does exactly the same thing.
To refer to these groups in Danish, simply use the plural definite article de (the) followed by the adjective. Because it follows a definite article, the adjective must take its definite/plural form, which almost always ends in -e.
| The young do not understand the old generation. | De unge forstår ikke den gamle generation. |
Notice in the next example that if you use an adjective as a noun for the subject of your sentence, any predicate adjectives describing it later in the sentence must also be in their plural form (like ensomme).
| The elderly are often lonely. | De ældre er ofte ensomme. |
Just like regular nouns, these nominalised adjectives can be used as the object of a verb or placed directly after a preposition.
| The respect for the elderly is disappearing. | Respekten for de ældre forsvinder. |
Social Demographics and Society
This structure is incredibly common when discussing social classes, culture, and societal ideals. You will frequently see it used with adjectives like fattig (poor), rig (rich), svag (weak), and stærk (strong).
| The poor need help. | De fattige har brug for hjælp. |
| Society must treat the rich and the poor well. | Samfundet skal behandle de rige og de fattige godt. |
| The strong must help the weak. | De stærke skal hjælpe de svage. |