Emphatic restriction (nichts anderes als)

Emphatic Restriction

When a demanding royal rejects all standard suitors, you might need a way to state firmly that they want "nobody else but" or "nothing but" the absolute best.

To express this kind of emphatic restriction, German uses two fixed comparative phrases based on the word als (than/as/but).

Niemand anderes als (Nobody else but)

To emphasize that only one specific person will do, use niemand anderes als (nobody else but).

The noun following als takes the grammatical case required by its role in the sentence. Above, den Kaiser is accusative because it is the direct object of heiraten (to marry). If the phrase acts as the subject, the noun is nominative.

You can also use this structure to emphasize a harsh judgment about someone's status.

Nichts anderes als (Nothing but)

For objects or abstract concepts, use nichts anderes als (nothing but).

As before, the noun follows the grammatical case dictated by its role.

You can use nichts anderes als with plural nouns to dismiss a group of people as being "nothing but" a lesser category. Because they are equated to a concept rather than specific individuals, nichts is used instead of niemand.

Unfortunately for our haughty royal, demanding the absolute best does not always guarantee a fairy-tale ending!