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 different. In an answer on englishforums.com it says that both are exactly the same.

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"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 4

It may be confusing because sometimes, "experienced" is also FindMSInteractive used as an adjective (meaning expert) (link). A question word can function as subject, object, complement or adverbial. In that context, the phrase the best can also be used as if it were an adverb.

Answers 3

  • I hope we can both agree this sentence is wrong because "good" is an adjective, and cannot be the subject of "is".
  • So "best experienced" means the best way to experience something.
  • 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."
  • As you said, the subject of the sentence is plural, and the verb "are", reflects this (as apposed to "is").

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.

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?

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)?

Your original is correct as-is, except you need to remove the question mark at the end because it’s not a question. My question is, what is the correct way to write this clause? I am not clear on the last bit of the sentence, "which one is the best". Which is correct, "I like you the best" or "I like you best"? This is correct even if Mr. Smith is still working as a teacher, as long as the speaker’s relationship to Mr. Smith has changed. In the context of a person, use "is" if the person is still in the role/relationship you are talking about, and "was" if they’re not in that role/relationship anymore.

Answers 2

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.