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I've been asked to explain the use of best in the phrase "humans have found how best to live together" other than saying its an adverb I'm stumped, could someone wiser help me out.

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    What do you find troublesome about saying it's an adverb? That's what it is. Are you saying you need more explanation of why it's an adverb? On the other hand, I would say a case can be made for calling it an adjective in one sense, because "how best" really means "the best way," and of course in this version "best" is obviously an adjective.
    – John M. Landsberg
    Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 5:55
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    There are similar-looking constructions where the 'how' is (1) an interrogative secondary modifier of an adjective: How tall is he? / Have you seen how tall he is! and (2) part of a compound quantifier: I saw how many chips you ate! But, leaving the adverb best out of the given sentence: "humans have found/discovered how to live together" shows that best, in this case, is not syntactically obligatory - contrast tall; many. It is an optional adverb and could be replaced by the adverbial phrase 'in the best possible way' (which would have to be shunted to the end of the sentence, however).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 24, 2013 at 6:35

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Change the affirmative phrase to make a simple question.

How well do humans live together? (correct)

How good do humans live together? (incorrect)

In your sentence:

Humans have found how best to live together"

"how best" = best is the superlative form of the adverb, well.

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Well, if the challenge is to simply not say the word "adverb" then, just like any other word, you can express "adverb" by laying out the definition of the word and not saying the word "adverb". An adverb word exists to add concepts on to a verb, adjective or prepositional phrase. In this context you could just explain that. "The use of the word 'best' in this clause is to add on the concept of 'in a way that is the most superior, of the highest quality. Existing in the most ideal form' to the prepositional phrase "to live together".

I'm not an expert grammarian. More an armchair grammarian. But that's my take.

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  • Are the definitions your own? Please attribute the source that you are quoting.
    – livresque
    Commented Jul 20, 2022 at 22:17
  • That's alright. You can just look them up in several dictionaries until you have an exhaustive and complete comprehension of the terms. Which would also help with the apparent robotic dependence on published works or citations. I could cite the Longman's dictionary or a Thorndike-Barnhardt, which might satisfy you but those are notoriously awful dictionaries with many incorrect or incomplete definitions. Citation does not a fact make, my friend. Instead of trying to backhandedly undermine me, why don't YOU find a definition that proves me wrong.
    – ElectricianPat
    Commented Jul 20, 2022 at 22:58

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