grammar It was the best ever vs it is the best ever? English Language Learners Stack Exchange

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So, the version without the "the" carries both meanings (or sets of meanings). Alternatively, it could mean that she walks more gracefully than she performs other activities – this is unusual, but would be clear from the context. These mean the same, although both of them have a range of meanings.

However, sometimes grammar demands one or the other. In many sentences it will not matter if "best" or "the best" is used. Either is acceptable, and the practical meaning is the same, but their referents, implicit not explicit, are findmsinteractive.info different. In an answer on englishforums.com it says that both are exactly the same.

Answers 3

The adjective best is used in a copular construction with the dummy pronoun it. Here, we have the adjective best, but this adjective is attached to no noun. The word "best" is an adjective, and adjectives do not take articles by themselves. On the linked page, best is used as an adverb, modifying the verb knew. However, "You’re the best!" as a complete sentence can also be an expression of gratitude, meaning "You’re awesome!" – whereas "You’re best" rarely if ever has this meaning. If the statement was made in the context of a particular discussion (for example, about tennis), the two would have the same meaning (and the same range of meanings that we saw in the previous examples).

Answers 2

Is it wrong to say that we can use or omit "the" before "best" with an adverb without any change of meaning, but when we use "most" with an adverb, the meaning of the sentence changes? As you said, the subject of the sentence is plural, and the verb "are", reflects this (as apposed to "is"). Is the use of "one" correct in the above sentence since the subject is plural (Honda and Toyota)?

Answers 4

Watching sports is a very social pastime and Watching sports is best experienced at the place where the match is unfolding. In your example "experienced" is the past tense of the verb to experience, not describing someone as having experience of something. Your example already shows how to use "best" as an adverb. Watching sports is a very social pastime and best experienced at the place where the match is unfolding. But that implication may not be all that important to the actual meaning of the sentence.

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They are both superlatives, as they are a progression of state from one another. Implies that to stay here is better than anything else, and no other suggestion would be better than it. But may not be as good as another suggestion, for example, staying at a friend’s house.

"It was the best ever" means either it was the best up to that point in time, and a better one may have happened since then, or it includes up to the present. So, "It is the best ever" means it’s the best of all time, up to the present. When used in the past, it may include the present, or it may only include the time up to that point in the past. What is the meaning of ‘It was the best ever? We use articles like the and a before nouns, like car. Assuming that the passage in the question is about the thinking of someone who is faced with choosing a course of action to take, not evaluating the outcome of an action already taken, I would use best as an adjective.

Answers 2

I experience, I am experiencing, I have experienced it, I have experienced it best. In each of these cases, "best" is modifying (acting on) the closest verb. There are a couple of ways you can rephrase the example that might make it easier to understand. So "best experienced" means the best way to experience something.

  • I’ve also been taught that "the best" is a superlative, but I can’t understand "best" in sentence 2.
  • In your sentence, which is the subject, so no inversion takes place.
  • Watching sports is a very social pastime and Watching sports is best experienced at the place where the match is unfolding.
  • Can somebody clear me on how to use this word as an adverb and the appropriate structure with it?
  • I am not clear on the last bit of the sentence, "which one is the best".

This makes the singular word "one" completely out of the question. A couple examples of how to construct the sentence would be "Honda and Toyota are two of the best selling car makers in the US." or "Honda and Toyota are each one of the best selling car makers in the US." I realize i could put "two" or "some" instead but wouldn’t the meaning change slightly?

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