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. 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. 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. Best here is used as an adverb as it provides the description of the experience of watching sport (verb) “at the place where the match is unfolding.”. Watching sports is a very social pastime and Watching sports is best experienced at the place where the match is unfolding.
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. Despite my personal impression of these phrases, I could see someone using either phrase to express either meaning.
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. I am not clear on the last bit of the sentence, “which one is the best”. 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.
Answers 7
- The adjective best is used in a copular construction with the dummy pronoun it.
- 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.
- I rarely see any of the four variations mentioned in the original post.
- The word “best” is an adjective, and adjectives do not take articles by themselves.
- It may be confusing because sometimes, “experienced” is also used as an adjective (meaning expert) (link).
- The two phrases do feel slightly different to me, but I can’t explain that any better than what I’ve already said.
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.). 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.
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Here, we have the adjective best, but this adjective is attached to no noun.
I could even see myself exchanging these terms with their meanings in certain circumstances, so clearly they’re not mutually exclusive. 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 What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average to me, but I can’t explain that any better than what I’ve already said.
Watching sports is a very social pastime and best experienced at the place where the match is unfolding. 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. In your example “experienced” is the past tense of the verb to experience, not describing someone as having experience of something. So “best experienced” means the best way to experience something. 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.
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This should be one of the 3B variants (3B1, 3B2, or 3B3). This form assumes or suggests that the purchase will happen, and approves of it. 3 “It’s best (if) he (not) buy it tomorrow.” is not a subjunctive form, and some options do not work well. I experience, I am experiencing, I have experienced it, I have experienced it best. Use “is the best ever” if the thing is currently happening, or ongoing.
Answers 3
- As I said at the beginning of my answer, I’m not sure that I see a difference anymore either.
- In SummaryIf anyone can point out a difference between Answer 1 and Answer 2, we might be able to unlock the mystery.
- I am not clear on the last bit of the sentence, “which one is the best”.
- Both phrases talk about putting the utmost effort into some endeavor, be it a sculpture, a race, a homework assignment, or some other task.
- 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).
So, “It is the best ever” means it’s the best of all time, up to the present. “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. 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.
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). Another example would be “I did the best I could under those specific conditions and circumstances”. I usually write “Sincerely,” or “Sincerely yours,” to friends, colleagues, and business acquaintances. 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.
Your example already shows how to use “best” as an adverb. 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. “Ever” means “of all time”, but the exact meaning changes with the tense. When the subject and the auxiliary verb are swapped over, it’s called inversion.
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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. In your example “experienced” is the verb that is receiving best. It may be confusing because sometimes, “experienced” is also used as an adjective (meaning expert) (link).
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. 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.