What I like best was to visit...

Question

Hi, could you please help me?1) Someone wrote: "I enjoyed all my lunchs in the picnic areas". I looked up in dictionaries and it says that lunch can be countable or uncountable. The sentences sounds very ackward to me but I would like to know if it is correct???2)  Someone wrote: "I am in England for holidays". I understand I have to correct him "I am in England on holiday". Is my correction right? or are both correct?3) Someone wrote: What I like best was going shopping".  Is this sentence grammatically correct? Two questions:a) Is the structure correct? I think so.b) I assume the verb LIKE is in the present because she wanted to say it in the present. It sound incorrect to me, but I would like to know if there is ANY possibility to use LIKE (present) and then (WAS GOING)... Thank you!!!c) Another person wrote: What I like best was to visit the King´s room. Could this be correct???

Avangi · Accepted Answer

1) Someone wrote: "I enjoyed all my lunchs in the picnic areas". I looked up in dictionaries and it says that lunch can be countable or uncountable. The sentences sounds very ackward to me but I would like to know if it is correct??? It's correct, but the plural of "lunch" is "lunches."

2) Someone wrote: "I am in England for holidays". I understand I have to correct him "I am in England on holiday". Is my correction right? or are both correct? "On holiday" and "for the holidays" are both correct. I believe "on holiday" is primarily a British usage.

3) Someone wrote: What I like best was going shopping". Is this sentence grammatically correct? Two questions: No.

a) Is the structure correct? I think so.
The structure is okay, but the tenses must agree: What I like is; (OR) What I liked was.

b) I assume the verb LIKE is in the present because she wanted to say it in the present. It sound incorrect to me, but I would like to know if there is ANY possibility to use LIKE (present) and then (WAS GOING)... Thank you!!! No.

c) Another person wrote: What I like best was to visit the King´s room. Could this be correct??? No.

Of course you can like something in the present tense. Perhaps you're confusing a particular incident with "habitual behavior."

I like going to the ball game. I like going to church. You may have been doing these things in the past for many years, and you continue to do them in the present.

I liked going to the ball game. This refers to one particular occasion in the past.

On the other hand, simple past tense can refer to habitual behavior in the past:
I liked going to the ball game until/before they had all this controversy about steroids.

Soprano · Answer

Thank you for your time!!!

Last questions related to number 3: I give you the context. The person is saying that yesterday she visited a castle. She is writing a letter to a friend, saying what she saw in the castle. Finally she said: "What I like the best in the castle are the walks around it". She is expressing this in the present but she is refering to something that happened the day before. What do you think?

Thank you.

Soprano · Answer

Sorry, last question related to number 2:

I´m writing to tell you about my holiday (context: She is in Britain and writes to her friend a letter telling her what she did). Is correct my holiday??? I am correcting British English.

Thank you.

Avangi · Answer

Soprano"What I like the best in the castle are the walks around it".

This is fine because "like" and "are" are both simple present.

If you're referring to "walkways," they are no doubt still there, and you can still like them in absentia.
If you're referring to "taking walks around it," that can be done again at any time.

If you're referring to your enjoyment at the time of the event, simple past tense makes more sense. You liked it then. But I believe that in your particular structure, the tenses should agree:
What I like is etc.
What I liked was etc.

In a different structure, the agreement issue changes:

Walking through the garden is the thing I liked the most.

The liking has passed, but the walking is still the thing.

Avangi · Answer

My edit is stuck!

Avangi · Answer

Let's say the liking mayhave passed, but the walking is still the thing.

Soprano · Answer

Thank you Avangi, but I do not understand this very well:

I understand your quote:

If you're referring to "walkways," they are no doubt still there, and you can still like them in absentia.

If you're referring to "taking walks around it," that can be done again at any time.

But I do not find the answer to my question. Sorry. It´s me. I know that grammatically speaking "What I like the best in the castle are the walks around it" is correct. There is verb agreement. What I do not understand is if he can say this since this event happened the day before. Am I clear?

Thank you once more.

Avangi · Answer

SopranoI´m writing to tell you about my holiday

No problem. In the US, we'd probably say "my vacation."

Sorry. This post was not showing when I wrote my last. - A.

Soprano · Answer

I´m completely grateful!

Thank you.

Avangi · Answer

SopranoI know that grammatically speaking "What I like the best in the castle are the walks around it" is correct. There is verb agreement. What I do not understand is if he can say this since this event happened the day before.

Likewise, no problem.

You can use "to like" is more than one way:

I like what you're doing. I liked what you did. (real time enjoyment)

I like it when you scratch my back. (habitual behavior)

I like The Beatles.

I like Hey, Jude! best. (This seems to be the usage you're describing.)
You've experienced and liked it in the past. You're not "experiencing it right now, but your "condition" of liking it endures.

What I like best was to visit...

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