1.10.5 Abstract adjectives as noun phrase heads

Rule: Some adjectives with abstract meaning can function as noun phrase heads.

Examples of errors:

1. She certainly can find out what is the best for herself.
2. You must speak with him. It would be the best.
3. If the mother is a drinker it would be the best to abort the fetus.
4. I thought that if I write this to anyone at all, it's the best I write it to you.
5. Athletes from the DDH get everything they need to do the best.
6. It's difficult for you to do the right.

Rule 1.5.1 refers in particular to superlatives like best, but in fact almost any adjective can be used this way in an appropriate context. This usage is especially likely when several adjectives are contrasted with one another: the good, the bad, and the ugly; from the sublime to the ridiculous. On the other hand, there are restrictions on this usage which involve the adjective itself as well as the particular sentence or structure in which it occurs. Some adjectives lend themselves more readily to this construction than others. Right and wrong, for example, do not seem to do so. The best is perfectly acceptable in expressions like The best is yet to come or I only want the best out of life, so the usage here is partially idiomatic.