What is the rule regarding the use of definite article (the) before superlative adverbs? Is it mandatory, optional, or not required at all to use the before superlative adverbs?
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1As in "Out of all of them, he played it the most prettily" and "Out of all of them, he played it most prettily" or just "He played it most prettily" (which is potentially ambiguous)? Examples illustrating your question and what you take each sentence to mean would help here, I think. – Andrew Leach Jul 31 '19 at 10:55
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1Possible duplicate of Is there any difference between like best and like the best? Also Is there any difference between like best and like the best?, The usage of “the” with “least” and probably others. – FumbleFingers Jul 31 '19 at 11:44
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Are you asking if he did it best is wrong, and if it must be he did it the* best* instead? It would be helpful if you provided an example sentence or two. – Jason Bassford Jul 31 '19 at 13:39
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Please give some examples!!!! – Araucaria - Him Aug 01 '19 at 00:27
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1@FumbleFingers Those Q's are about two specific adverbs, this is about adverbs in general. In addition like best is a weird idiom, where best has weird properties, and a weird meaning. Would be better to get a good answer here for adverbs in general (Also more easily searchable for future users). For comparison: She danced most beautifully versus She danced the most beautifully <--- Not really the same at all as the best thing is it? – Araucaria - Him Aug 01 '19 at 00:31
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@Araucaria: It really is the strangest* thing. That may be a rather dated construction, when used with the exact sense of It really is a strange thing* (or plain It really is strange*). But if I allow myself to "settle in" with that usage, I find it easy enough to see your beautiful dancer examples as precisely equivalent* from that "dated" perspective, even though I can also look at it from a more modern / logical perspective and see a clear semantic distinction. – FumbleFingers Aug 01 '19 at 12:38