Best and Most
2022-02-05
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Rebecca, an English teacher in China.
2I am Rebecca from China. I am also an English teacher for kids.
3I am confused by the two phrases as follows:
41. I like summer and winter best.
52. I like summer and winter most.
6Which one is correct? What's the difference grammatically?
7Thanks!
8Rebecca, China.
9Dear Rebecca,
10Thank you for writing to us.
11At first, I thought the statements sounded incorrect.
12Then, I saw that they may simply be incomplete.
13Let us begin with "best." It is an adverb, a word that describes time, manner, place, or degree.
14Your grammar book will say it is the superlative form of "well."
15A superlative adverb shows something is to the greatest degree of a quality.
16Here is an example of "best" as an adverb:
17Yao Ming is best known for his work in the NBA.
18The problem I saw was that you said two seasons were better than all the others.
19Maybe you enjoy swimming and skiing, sports that are not as easy to do outdoors in spring and fall.
20You can add a phrase to explain this.
21Of the four seasons, I like summer and winter best. That's because I can swim in summer and ski in winter.
22You could also say,
23For my sports, swimming and skiing, I like summer and winter best.
24Now let us look at "most."
25It is also a superlative adverb. It means "in or to the greatest degree."
26You can add some information to your statement about traveling in China to make it clearer.
27I like spring and fall most for visiting Hangzhou.
28The short answer to your question, Rebecca, is that there is no grammatical difference between your phrases.
29But make sure your students understand that "best" and "most" can also be used as superlative adjectives, as in these examples:
30The best seasons for visiting Shanghai are spring and fall.
31I think the Silk Museum is the most interesting one in Hangzhou.
32Note that both of these statements have "the" before the adjective.
33That is one easy way to tell the difference between superlative adverbs and adjectives.
34What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
35And that's Ask a Teacher.
36I'm Jill Robbins.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Rebecca, an English teacher in China. 2Question: 3I am Rebecca from China. I am also an English teacher for kids. I am confused by the two phrases as follows: 41. I like summer and winter best. 52. I like summer and winter most. 6Which one is correct? What's the difference grammatically? 7Thanks! 8Rebecca, China. 9Answer: 10Dear Rebecca, 11Thank you for writing to us. At first, I thought the statements sounded incorrect. Then, I saw that they may simply be incomplete. 12Best 13Let us begin with "best." It is an adverb, a word that describes time, manner, place, or degree. Your grammar book will say it is the superlative form of "well." A superlative adverb shows something is to the greatest degree of a quality. Here is an example of "best" as an adverb: 14Yao Ming is best known for his work in the NBA. 15The problem I saw was that you said two seasons were better than all the others. Maybe you enjoy swimming and skiing, sports that are not as easy to do outdoors in spring and fall. You can add a phrase to explain this. 16Of the four seasons, I like summer and winter best. That's because I can swim in summer and ski in winter. 17You could also say, 18For my sports, swimming and skiing, I like summer and winter best. 19Most 20Now let us look at "most." It is also a superlative adverb. It means "in or to the greatest degree." You can add some information to your statement about traveling in China to make it clearer. 21I like spring and fall most for visiting Hangzhou. 22The short answer to your question, Rebecca, is that there is no grammatical difference between your phrases. But make sure your students understand that "best" and "most" can also be used as superlative adjectives, as in these examples: 23The best seasons for visiting Shanghai are spring and fall. 24I think the Silk Museum is the most interesting one in Hangzhou. 25Note that both of these statements have "the" before the adjective. That is one easy way to tell the difference between superlative adverbs and adjectives. 26What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 27And that's Ask a Teacher. 28I'm Jill Robbins. 29Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 30____________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32kid - n. informal. a young child 33confused - adj. unable to understand or think clearly 34phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 35superlative - adj. grammar. of or relating to the form of an adjective or adverb that is used to indicate the greatest degree of a particular quality 36Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.