grammar It was the best ever vs it is the best ever? English Language Learners Stack Exchange
When I see a colleague of mine writing such a phrase, I usually point out that it is a kind of old-fashioned affected valediction which, probably, nowadays, a native English speaker wouldn’t write. 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. The adjective best is used in a copular construction with the dummy pronoun it. The issue is I thought that with the superlative form of an adverb we should use the article “the” (“the most” or “the best”, e.g.). Terse and very formal, perhaps more appropriate in a business environment. These mean the same, although both of them have a range of meanings.
Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. I hope we can both agree this sentence is wrong because “good” is an adjective, and cannot be the subject of “is”. A question word can function as subject, object, complement or adverbial. “She walks most gracefully” could be a synonym for “She walks very gracefully”. But “she walks most gracefully” could also be used to mean “she walks the most gracefully”. So, the version without the “the” carries both meanings (or sets of meanings).
- I could even see myself exchanging these terms with their meanings in certain circumstances, so clearly they’re not mutually exclusive.
- This answer by Tom B is the best rephrase of your sentence.
- I wouldn’t call it “Victorian” English, as it’s a phrase that sees regular use even today.
- Any of them would be a refreshing change from reading yet another American form letter.
- 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.
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I am not clear on the last bit of the sentence, “which one is the best”. This implies that Mr. Smith is no longer the speaker’s teacher. 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. “She walks the most gracefully” usually means that she walks more gracefully than other people (although which particular group of other people is ambiguous or dependent on context, as with the tennis example). Alternatively, it could mean that she walks more gracefully than she performs other activities – this is unusual, but would be clear from the context.
Despite my personal impression of these phrases, I could see someone using either phrase to express either meaning. I could even see myself exchanging these terms with their meanings in certain circumstances, so clearly they’re not mutually exclusive. I will explain what I was thinking, though in preparing this answer I may have talked myself into accepting that there is no difference in meaning. The word “best” is an adjective, and adjectives do not take articles by themselves.
Because the noun car is modified by the superlative adjective best, and because this makes the noun car definite in this context, we use the. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I accept that not everyone will see any difference between the two. As I said at the beginning of my answer, I’m not sure that I see a difference anymore either. The two phrases do feel slightly different to me, but I can’t explain that any better than what I’ve already said. As Mick mentions in his comment, “to deem fit” is a little old-fashioned but not, I think, enough that you shouldn’t learn how to use the idiom.
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So, “Michael Jordan was the best player of all time” could mean that at he was once considered the best player of all time, but someone else has since surpassed him, or it could mean he is still the best of all time, just no longer active. “Ever” means “of all time”, but the exact meaning changes with the tense. Here, we have the adjective best, but this adjective is attached to no noun.
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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. In SummaryIf anyone can point out a difference between Answer 1 and Answer 2, we might be able to unlock the mystery. Grammatically, I suppose, they may have a slightly different feel to them; I think I did the best I could works better at the end of a sentences than at the beginning, so I’m somewhat partial to Answer 1. Both phrases talk about putting the utmost effort into some endeavor, be it a sculpture, a race, a homework assignment, or some other task. When I hear I did the best I could I think the speaker might be implying that he could have done better but therewas something external (something that wasn’t up to him) that affected his performance. So he did the best he could but maybe he could have done better if he was given better tools (i.e. I did the best I could with the given tools which is not my absolute best).
What is the correct usage of “deems fit” phrase?
Or in running a race I did the best I could given that I had the flu, but usually I’m a better runner than that. This answer by Tom B is the best best accounting software for quicken rephrase of your sentence. When the subject and the auxiliary verb are swapped over, it’s called inversion. I usually write “Sincerely,” or “Sincerely yours,” to friends, colleagues, and business acquaintances.
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I wouldn’t call it “Victorian” English, as it’s a phrase that sees regular use even today. 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. “She walks most gracefully.” Means she walks very gracefully. “She walks the most gracefully.” She is compared to other people. I don’t see why one phrase being an idiom has anything to do with whether another phrase is “proper”, but in any case “I did the best I could” is a common expression. For a more thorough explanation of why the two formats look the same, see JavaLatte’s answer and note that “the best” is a complement.
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- Your original is correct as-is, except you need to remove the question mark at the end because it’s not a question.
- “She walks the most gracefully.” She is compared to other people.
- When I see a colleague of mine writing such a phrase, I usually point out that it is a kind of old-fashioned affected valediction which, probably, nowadays, a native English speaker wouldn’t write.
- It’s clever enough, but the question is whether future generations will deem it “art”.
It just says that I did my best with no reference to anything that may have affected my performance. So it could be the best I could in the given context or just my absolute best. It’s clever enough, but the question is whether future generations will deem it “art”. In an answer on englishforums.com it says that both are exactly the same. In the Young Cook of Britain competition, the finalists were asked which famous person they would like to cook for. Your original is correct as-is, except you need to remove the question mark at the end because it’s not a question.
I rarely see any of the four variations mentioned in the original post. One could argue that they are more appropriate than “Sincerely yours”. Any of them would be a refreshing change from reading yet another American form letter.
They could mean that you’re better at tennis than other people in the room, or on the team, or at your school, or in the world. Alternatively, they could mean that you’re better at tennis than at any of the other sports you play – without specifying that you’re better at tennis than other people. I did my best – Self affirmation, or reassurance that one has given something their best effort and can feel good about that effort. In essence, one is saying, “I feel good about my efforts.” Insofar as meaning goes, though, I can’t discern even a slight difference. On the other hand we have I did my best which I think is just more generic.
Another example would be “I did the best I could under those specific conditions and circumstances”. The reason I said that they don’t mean quite the same thing is that in my experience when someone says “I did the best I could”, what they mean but aren’t saying explicitly is “I did the best I could in the circumstances”. For example, in preparing dinner I did the best I could with the ingredients available in the refrigerator, but if I’d had time to go to the supermarket I could have bought more ingredients to cook something much nicer.
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