Turning Spanish Adjectives Into Nouns

In Spanish, almost any descriptive adjective (and a few others) can be used to function as a noun by preceding it with a definite article such as el or las. Typically, adjectives made into nouns are the equivalent of the English ____ one or ____ person as in the following examples: azul (blue), el azul, la azul (the blue one)pobre (poor), los pobres (the poor people)nuevo (new), el nuevo, la nueva (the new one)mexicano (Mexican), el mexicano, la mexicana (the Mexican) The gender and number will depend on whats being referred to:  ¿Quà © casa prefieres? —La blanca. (Which house do you prefer? The white one.)Habà ­a muchas fresas. Comprà © las mà ¡s frescas. (There were many strawberries. I bought the freshest ones.)Habà ­a muchos plà ¡tanos. Comprà © los mà ¡s frescos. (There were many bananas. I bought the freshest ones.) Sometimes, nouns made from adjectives take on meanings of their own, at least in certain contexts. The definitions below arent the only ones possible: roto (torn), el roto (the tear)mal (bad), el mal (evil, wrongful act, sickness)perdido (lost), el perdido, la perdida (the reprobate, the lost soul)decolorante (causing something to lose its color), el decolorante (bleach)semejante (similar), los semejantes (fellow human beings) The adjective-turned-noun is in the neuter gender when the adjective is turned into an abstract noun or when the adjective-turned-noun is not referring to a specific person or thing. The singular neuter definite article is lo; in plural, the neuter is the same form as the masculine, with a definite article of los. Such neuter nouns are translated in a variety of ways, depending on the context: Fuera lo viejo, venga lo nuevo. (Out with the old, in with the new.)Lo importante es que tenemos la oportunidad. (The important thing is that we have the opportunity.)Los interesantes son los intangibles. (What are interesting are the intangibles. Here, the English seemed less awkward when the first phrase was translated as an adjective.)Te regalo lo tuyo. (I am giving you whats yours.) Sample Sentences Los ricos no piden permiso. (The rich dont ask for permission. The sentence is the name of a former Argentine television show.) Uno de los cà ¡nceres mà ¡s comunes en los hombres es el cà ¡ncer de prà ³stata. Los agresivos pueden requerir cirugà ­as. (One of the most common cancers in men is prostate cancer. The aggressive ones can require surgery.) Dos tercios de los analfabetos del mundo son mujeres. (Two-thirds of the worlds illiterate are women.) Los baratos cuestan 6 euros. (The cheap ones cost 6 euros.) No todas las bellas pueden ser modelos. (Not all beautiful women can be models. Depending on the context, this also could refer to girls. If bellos had been used, it could have referred to men only or to both men and women.) Los sacerdotes catà ³licos romanos no son los à ºnicos que pueden hacer exorcismos. (Roman Catholic priests arent the only ones who can do exorcisms.) Los fritos fueron el artà ­culo comprado con mayor frecuencia. (The fried ones were the article most often purchased.) Los enfermos andaban por las calles. (The sick people walked through the streets.)