Breakdown of Sind alle Wartenden hier Erwachsene?
sein
to be
hier
here
alle
all, everyone
der Wartende
the waiting person
der Erwachsene
the adult
Questions & Answers about Sind alle Wartenden hier Erwachsene?
How do we get the noun Wartenden from the verb warten?
It is a nominalized present participle. First, you take the infinitive verb warten (to wait) and add -d to make the adjective wartend (waiting). Then, you capitalize it to turn it into a noun for a person: der Wartende (the waiting person). Since we are talking about multiple people here, it is plural.
Why does Wartenden end in -en here?
Because nominalized participles still behave exactly like adjectives when it comes to endings! The word alle (all) triggers the weak adjective declension, just like the definite article die does in the plural. Therefore, the adjective takes the -en ending, giving us alle Wartenden.
Why does Erwachsene end in -e instead of -en?
Erwachsene is a nominalized adjective (from erwachsen, meaning grown or adult), so it follows the same ending rules as Wartenden. However, in this sentence, there is no article before it (it is just adults, not the adults). Without an article, it takes the strong nominative plural ending -e. If it had an article, it would be die Erwachsenen.
Could I say alle wartenden Leute instead of alle Wartenden?
Yes, grammatically you could use wartenden as a normal adjective modifying the noun Leute. However, turning the participle itself into a noun is a very common and natural way in German to refer to people who are doing an action, allowing you to drop the word Leute entirely.
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