Adverbs

If someone greets you and asks you, “How are you?” you might be surprised to find that it is nonstandard to respond or “I’m doing good.”

The issue involved here is choosing an adverb instead of an adjective. Here are three important things you should know about adverbs.

a. Adverbs describe verbs, adverbs, and adjectives (but they won’t describe nouns).

b. The English language regularly forms adverbs by adding –ly to adjectives (although that’s not the only form in which adverbs appear).

c. We use adverbs to answer the questions how, when, where, why, and to what extent.

In the sentences below, the adverbs are in italics.

I played noisily during the contest. I took the guitar and smashed it slowly into the amp. The amp crashed loudly into the curtain. The curtain quietly ripped and fell softly on my head. I cried unhappily.

Notice that all the adverbs in these sentences answer the question “how” about the verbs: how the individual played (noisily), how the guitar smashed ( slowly), how the amp crashed (loudly), how the curtain ripped (quietly), how the curtain fell (softly), and how the individual cried (unhappily).

These examples lead us to a rule.

Writers are much less inclined to make mistakes when action verbs like those above are described with adverbs like those above. In such cases, writers rarely accidentally use an adjective instead of an adverb. We don’t often say, “I played noisy” or “I cried unhappy.” But the use of “good” (usually an adjective, though it can be a noun) and “well” (usually an adverb, but it can be an adjective—see below) can be confusing.

Nonstandard

How am I doing? I am doing good.

Standard

How am I doing? I am doing well.

Because the word “doing” is an action verb, we use the adverb “well,” answering how the individual is doing, instead of using the adjective “good.”

Our next rule will show that it’s appropriate to use an adjective with another kind of verb: a state-of-being verb.

The following sentence is standard.

Standard

The dog is good.

Here the word “is” is a state-of-being verb, a form of the verb to be.

State-of-being verbs (sometimes called linking verbs) include the following: 

to be (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been)

Note: These can be tricky because they are also used as helping verbs for action verbs, such as “am doing well.”

became, appear, grow, keep, remain, seem, stay, loom, prove, turn

sound, smell, look, feel, taste

Note: These five can also be action verbs.

When a state-of-being verb is involved, writers in standard edited English use an adjective instead of an adverb. Adjectives describe nouns, and, in the sentences below, the adjectives are describing the noun that is the subject rather than the state-of-being verb itself. Adjectives, rather than adverbs, should be used in such cases.

Nonstandard

I feel badly.

Standard

I feel bad.

Nonstandard

I appear calmly.

Standard

I appear calm.

Nonstandard

I'm sorry to say it, but you look badly.

Standard

I'm sorry to say it, but you look bad.

Examine these examples, comparing the use of adjectives and adverbs:

Standard Sentences

The clever fox jumped over the dogs.
(This sentence uses the adjective “clever,” but it does not concern itself with a state-of-being verb; this is not usually problematic.)

The fox jumped cleverly over the dogs.
(The adverb “cleverly” is describing how the fox “jumped”—the verb.)

The fox was clever.
(“Clever” is an adjective that is used to describe the subject of the sentence, not the state-of-being verb “was”—in this case, a form of the verb to be.)

In such cases, writers rarely accidentally use an adjective instead of an adverb. We’re not inclined to say, “The fox jumped clever” or “The fox was cleverly.” The question of whether to use an adjective or an adverb is primary in the consideration of deciding whether to use the adverb well or the adjective good in any given situation.

In most cases, when well is used as an adverb, it is used to describe verbs. It does not follow a state-of-being verb. (Please note that to do and to go are not state-of-being verbs.)

Well describes ordinary verbs.

I sing good well, I teach good well, and I play the guitar good well.

Well does not describe state-of-being verbs.

I smell well good. My voice sounds well good. My shoes feel well good. With this tie, I look well good.

An exception to these is that well can be an adjective describing health: “After being ill for a week, I finally feel well.”

Returning to the examples above with “well” and “good” substituted for “cleverly” and “clever” will enable us to see where an adjective is required and where an adverb is the correct option.

Standard Sentences

The good fox jumped over the dogs.
(This sentence uses the adjective “good,” but it does not concern itself with a state-of-being verb; this is not usually problematic.)

The fox jumped well.
(The adverb “well” is describing the verb “jumped.”)

The fox was good.
(“Good” is an adjective that is used to describe the subject of the sentence, not the state-of-being verb—in this case, a form of the verb to be.)

The same rules apply when you’re trying to decide between bad and badly. Here are some standard sentences to study in that regard.

Standard Sentences

On a cold day, a bowl of hot soup never tastes bad.
(The adjective “bad” is describing the noun “soup,” not the state-of-being verb “tastes.”)

At the end of the game, the hometown crowd felt bad for the losing pitcher.
(The adjective “bad” is describing the noun “crowd,” not the state-of-being verb “felt.”)

It was something of a tragedy, but the pitcher played badly in that game.
(The adverb “badly” is describing the verb “played,” not the noun “pitcher.”)

In another circumstance, writers occasionally use an adjective before another adjective when they should be using an adverb in standard edited English.

Nonstandard

I am real sleepy today.

Standard

I am really sleepy today.

“Sleepy” acts as an adjective describing the subject “I,” connected by the state-ofbeing verb “am.”

“Really” is an adverb intensifying the adjective “sleepy.”

The adjective real means “genuine.” The adverb really is an intensifier. Real will describe a noun, but it will not describe any other part of speech. Really will describe an adjective, an adverb, or a verb, but it will not describe a noun. It answers the question to what extent.

In these sentences, the word real describes nouns.

Standard

Baseballs are made of real leather—of genuine leather.

Standard

I have a flute made of real oak.

Standard

She thanked him with real sincerity.

The adverb really is an intensifier used to describe adjectives in the following sentences.

Standard

I am really sick.

Standard

She did not think he was really sincere.

Standard

He thought she was really kind.

The adverb really can also be used to describe verbs.

Standard

She really went to the store.

Standard

He really climbed Mount Everest.

The adverb really also describes adverbs.

Standard

He snipped the wires really carefully.

Standard

Please shovel the driveway really thoroughly.