comparative

It is not one of the best shows s/he's seen.

IT is better than others, but not one of the best.

Thank you, Mr Micawber and nona. If there were an ever between have and seen, would it then be necessary to use best? thanks.

Hello everyone!

Could it mean that the person who said it doesn't have a 'best' one?

Thanks in advance!

Well, suppose the person has seen 36 shows.

Arrange them in order, according to how much the person enjoyed them.

Then divide the 36 shows into two sets of 18.

Set Two will contain the "better" shows. And the show in question is one of those better shows; though not necessarily the best, or even "one of the best".

(Though it may be that not everyone thinks of i

I am not sure I understand it.

If you arrange them in order, the first one in the list would be the best one he has seen. It would be in Set Two, but, you know that although it is among the better ones, the first one is the best one..right?

Ah. I arranged my list with the worst show on the left and the best show on the right. So the best one was the last one.

I think you tend to use "one of the better Xs I've seen/read/etc." when you want to praise something a little, but not too much. Thus:

1. "What did you think of the show?" "It was the best show I've ever seen!"

— unrestrained praise.

2. ... "

better and other comparatives are used when comparing two things.
best and other superlatives are used when comparing more than two things.

Since the example clearly compares more than two Broadway shows, I would conclude that this is not a use of a comparative form strictly for the purpose of comparison. Instead, it is an example of the comparative form us

On my first reading I thought the meaning was that the person really doesn't like Broadway shows, and is sneering at them a little with this comment. He wouldn't describe any Broadway show as 'one of the best' as he doesn't think they are good enough to be called 'best'. so 'better' is used to show that this is 'best of a bad lot'.

i.e. imagine a snooty ballet reviewer having to comment

well, my question has not been adressed yet. Does an "ever" necessitate the use of "best"? Thank you.