student asking question

What kind of circumstance can I use only "best" without "the"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Great question. The confusion is because the word "best" can be used as any of several different parts of speech. If "best" is being used used as an adverb, to modify a verb, then the phrase "the best" can also be used as if it were an adverb. The meaning is almost exactly the same in that case. Ex: He chose this topic because he knew this subject best. = He chose this topic because he knew this subject the best. However, when "best" is an adjective, which is the case in the clip, if we insert the word "the", we get a noun phrase, "the best". You could certainly say "the best" after comparing a number of things, you found that a particular one of those things was the best. That is to say, it was better than any of the others. So if you knew someone who had tried going up, going down, going left, and going right, you could ask them for their opinion of the benefits of each of those actions. So, when used as an adjective, unless you are comparing many choices, "best" is better to use than "the best". Ex: I think it is best to leave now. Ex: Of all the colours I think the red t-shirt is the best.

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