1. This book was most helpful for my homework.
2. This book was the most helpful for my homework.
(Which one is grammatical? Do we have to use 'the' or not in this case?)
Q: How do we pronounce 'helpful'?
(It's a little difficult to pronounce...Thank you for your help.)
English - Writeacher, Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 4:05pm
#1 means this: This book was very helpful for my homework.
#2 means this: Of all the books, this book was the most helpful ...
Both are grammatical, but they are not identical in meaning.
Yes, "helpful" is difficult ... it's because of the l and p and f sounds all together between the two vowels.
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See the little icon for a speaker, right next to help¡¤ful just above the definition? Click on it, and you'll hear a man pronounce the word.
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Thank you for your help.
What about the followings?
1. She is most attractive.
2. Summer is hottest.
3. She is shiest
(Are they all grammatical? Does 'most' in #1 mean 'very'? What about the following expressions? Are the folowing expressions grammatical? Which ones are more commonly used?)
4. She is the most attractive.
5. Summer is the hottest.
6. She is the shiest.
1. Both "She is most attractive" and "She is the most attractive" are grammatically correct, but they have slightly different meanings.
- "She is most attractive" means that she is very attractive, emphasizing her attractiveness.
- "She is the most attractive" means that she is the most attractive person among a group of people.
2. "Summer is hottest" is not grammatically correct. You need to use the definite article "the" before the superlative adjective "hottest." So it should be "Summer is the hottest."
3. "She is shiest" is grammatically correct, but it is not commonly used. The more commonly used form is "She is the shyest" which means she is the shyest person among a group of people.
4. "She is the most attractive" is grammatically correct and is commonly used. It means that she is the most attractive person among a group of people.
5. "Summer is the hottest" is grammatically correct and is commonly used. It means that summer is the hottest season among the seasons.
6. "She is the shiest" is grammatically correct and commonly used. It means that she is the shyest person among a group of people.