Why does one write "nichts Gutes", "etwas Besseres" and so on. The rules imply they are nouns. Wiktionary says they obbey an ,,adjektivischer Deklination", there is no plural for them, etc.
But can one substantivize any adjective this way?
Why does one write "nichts Gutes", "etwas Besseres" and so on. The rules imply they are nouns. Wiktionary says they obbey an ,,adjektivischer Deklination", there is no plural for them, etc.
But can one substantivize any adjective this way?
Yes, you can substantivize any adjective that way: Nichts Schönes, alles Gute, etwas Herrliches - yet, there's an exception: "anderes". It's "etwas/nichts/manch anderes", used without a capital letter. As a general rule you can say that any adjective which follows those words AND doesn't explicitly refer to another word is substantivized:
Ich habe manch Schönes erlebt.
but
Ich habe manch schönes Haus gesehen.
You can always substantivize adjectives or adverbs if you can: