best

[Anonymous]

What is the difference between:

1-That is the best.
and:
2-That is best.

I think "best" without "the" is the superlative of "well" (adverb) and not "good" (adjective). So "best" in 2 would be like the "best" in:
3-It would be best to go there early.
The most advisable thing, solution, course of action, etc.

In 1, one is selecting the best one among a number of things.

Am I right here?

 

[Casiopea]

What is the difference between:

1-That is the best.
and:
2-That is best.

I think "best" without "the" is the superlative of "well" (adverb) and not "good" (adjective). So "best" in 2 would be like the "best" in:
3-It would be best to go there early.
The most advisable thing, solution, course of action, etc.

In 1, one is selecting the best one among a number of things.

Am I right here?

That is the best solution.
That is the best choice.
That is the best course of action to take.

'the best', superlative in form, modifies the nouns 'solution', 'choice', and 'course of action', making it an adjective in function.

That is best.

'best', the superlative of 'good', modifies 'That'. If we replace 'That', we find it represents a verbal, for example,

Studying is best.

All the best (wishes),

 

[navi tasan]

Thanks.
All the best to you too, (best can also be a noun and it was nice of you to point that out).
Now, my second question is whether one could say:

A-"Studying is well."

I suppose logically you could, but it doesn't sound natural to me. Would you say that A is fine?

 

[RonBee]

"Studying is well" is not an English sentence. That is because you would be using "well" as an adjective. (You can use "well" as an adjective meaning "not sick".)

 

[Casiopea]

The adverb 'best' is the superlative of 'well':

It works best if you... (superlative)
It works better [than X] if you... (comparative)
It works well. (adverb)

Adverbs modify verbs, so "Studying is well" doesn't work. 'Studying' is a verbal noun, so an adjective is what we need: "Studying is good".

The adjective 'best' is the superlative of 'good':

It is best. (superlative)
It is better [than X]. (comparative)
It is good. (adjective)

Please note, Studying is best. (adjective) In my previous response I wrote 'adverb', yet I was thinking adjective. Sorry about that.

All the best,

 

[navi tasan]

Please note, "Studying is best". (adjective) In my previous response I wrote 'adverb', yet I was thinking adjective. Sorry about that.

That's quite alright. Everybody makes mistakes, few have the courage to admit theirs

But, since you said it was an adverb, I deduced that logically, one could say: "Studying is well."

Now, that is settled, but the problem is:

A-What is the difference between:
1-Studying is best.
and
2-Studying is the best.


I think in this context one has to use 1. But if I want to choose the best car from a set of cars, can I say:

"The blue car is best."
or
"The blue car is fastest."


B-Are both the following correct:
3-This car goes fastest.
4-This car goes the fastest.

 

[Tdol]

Hmmm. I'm not too happy with 4. ;-)

 

[Casiopea]

A-What is the difference between:

1-Studying is best.
2-Studying is the best.

I think in this context one has to use 1.

Yes, that's right. As for "Studying is the best...", it's incomplete. Try "Studying is the best (thing in the world)."

But if I want to choose the best car from a set of cars, can I say:

"The blue car is best."
"The blue car is fastest."

Try,

Noun + adjective
(Driving) the blue car is best.

Adjective + noun
The blue car is the best car.

Noun + adjective
It's best that you buy the blue car.
('It' = 'that you buy a new car')

B-Are both the following correct:

3-This car goes fastest.
4-This car goes the fastest.

This car goes faster (than...). (comparative)
This car goes the fastest. /It is the fastest car. (superlative)
This car is fast (adj.). This car goes fast. (adv.)

All the best,

 

[navi tasan]

s

Thanks Casiopea, RonBee and TDOL.

As for:
4-The blue car goes the fastest.

It seems that it sounds OK to Casiopea and not that OK to TDOL. May-be it is a British/American thing again? I think if one does a google word search one will find both forms (fastest/, the fastest).

As for:
A-The blue car is fastest.

I don't know if I am right or not, but I use that when I am saying something like:

A-"The blue car is fastest when you put super-fuel in it."

Meaning: It goes fastest at that time. I am comparing its perfomance at that time to its performance at other times.
and if I say:

B-"The blue car is the fastest when you put super-fuel in it."

I am comparing it with other cars and say if you pur super-fuel in it, it goes faster than all the other ones.
But may-be I could use A even when I am comparing the blue car with other cars?

Question: Do A and B mean the same thing?

As for:
C-The blue car is best.

Question: Can I use C when I want to say the blue car is better than all the other ones? (Or only when I want to say: "Using/ Driving ....) the blue car is best.")

 

[RonBee]

navi tasan, your analysis is excellent. As for your questions, yes, and yes.

 

[navi tasan]

Thanks Casiopea and RonBee.

RonBee, you are too kind!

 

[RonBee]

Navitasan, for the sake of clarity, I had better take another look at at your questions.

A-"The blue car is fastest when you put super-fuel in it."

Meaning: It goes fastest at that time. I am comparing its perfomance at that time to its performance at other times.
and if I say:

B-"The blue car is the fastest when you put super-fuel in it."

I am comparing it with other cars and say if you pur super-fuel in it, it goes faster than all the other ones.

With the first statement, which word is emphasized makes a difference in meaning. Example:

• The blue car is fastest when you put super-fuel in it.

That statement compares the blue car with other cars.

Example:

• The blue car is fastest when you put super fuel in it.

That statement compares the car with itself at different times.

Your interpretation is, in my opinion, the most likely meaning of the "bare" sentence (absent context or other cues).

The same goes for the second sentence. Your interpretation is the most likely one.

(Instead of faster than all the other ones you can simply say faster than all the others.)

But may-be I could use A even when I am comparing the blue car with other cars?
Question: Do A and B mean the same thing?

Answer: Probably not, but they could.

As for:
C-The blue car is best.

Question: Can I use C when I want to say the blue car is better than all the other ones? (Or only when I want to say: "Using/ Driving ....) the blue car is best.")

To the first question, yes. To the second question, no.