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Questions & Answers about De stichting helpt de zieken.
Why does the Dutch sentence leave out the word for 'people'?
In Dutch, you can turn an adjective like ziek (sick) into a noun to represent a group of people. Instead of saying de zieke mensen (the sick people), you can simply say de zieken (the sick). This is a very common shortcut in Dutch.
Why does zieken end in -n here?
When an adjective is used as a noun to refer to people in the plural, you must add an -n to the end. Since the basic adjective form already has an 'e' (zieke), we just add the -n to make zieken. If it were singular, it would just be de zieke (the sick person).
Would I also use de zieken to talk about a group of sick animals?
No, the -n ending on these standalone adjectives is exclusively for people. If you were talking about animals or things, you would use de zieke (the sick ones), though it is much more common to just include the noun, like de zieke dieren (the sick animals).
Is stichting related to a verb?
Yes, it comes from the verb stichten, which means 'to found' or 'to establish'. By adding the suffix -ing (which often works like '-tion' in English), it becomes the noun de stichting, meaning 'the foundation' or 'the charity'.