most valuable

Question

Hello,Which is grammatically correct and why?Which cars are most valuable?Which cars are the most valuable?I am not sure when you use "the."Thank you!

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

englishnewbieI am not sure when you use "the."

You may use it there or not, without fear or favour. Both are grammatically correct.

Englishnewbie · Answer

Thank you!!

Cool Breeze · Answer

englishnewbieWhich cars are most valuable?Which cars are the most valuable?

As Mr M has said, both are grammatical. However, there's a difference in meaning. If you compare the cars with other cars and want to say that they are more valuable than any other cars, in other words, you want the superlative, you need the article. Without the article, most means very/extremely:

Your advice is most/very valuable.

As English isn't a particularly exact language, some people may not always observe this little distinction and may indeed drop the article even when they don't mean very valuable. This is at least partly due to the fact that the article can usually be omitted before superlative adverbs: He can run [the] fastest. In theory, there may occasionally be confusion as to what is really meant: He can sing most beautifully. / He can sing the most beautifully. In actual usage, common sense nearly always indicates what is really meant.

CB

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