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JustALass Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

as good as?

Which is grammatically correct?

I didn't know he spoke English as badly as that

OR

I didn't know he spoke English as good as that

This was a multiple answer question, the options were; good, definitely, badly and fluent. I told my student the correct answer was badly as good is not used in that context, but now I am doubting it. Which is correct?
  

Top answer

"I didn't know he spoke English as badly as that" is correct English and presumably is the expected answer. "I didn't know he spoke English as good as that" is bad English if "good" is meant as an adverb (should be "well"). However, it is possible to interpret "good" as an adjective, and "English as good as that" as a noun phrase, in which case the sentence is OK.

— GPY

  • "I didn't know he spoke English as badly as that" is correct English and presumably is the expected answer.
  • "I didn't know he spoke English as good as that" is bad English if "good" is meant as an adverb (should be "well").
  • However, it is possible to interpret "good" as an adjective, and "English as good as that" as a noun phrase, in which case the sentence is OK.
  • By the same token "fluent" is also possible.
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10 Answers
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"I didn't know he spoke English as badly as that" is correct English and presumably is the expected answer.

"I didn't know he spoke English as good as that" is bad English if "good" is meant as an adverb (should be "well"). However, it is possible to interpret "good" as an adjective, and "English as good as that" as a noun phrase, in which case the sentence is OK. By the same token "fluen
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Thanks GPY... even though I'm still pretty confused... do you have a link or a source for this grammar rule?
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JustALassI didn't know he spoke English as badly as that.
Correct. badly is an adverb describing how he spoke English.
JustALassI didn't know he spoke English as good as that.
Not correct. As above, you need an adverb. If you change the adjective good to the corresponding adverb well, all will be fine
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If 'well' was an option the answer would have been easy Emotion: stick out tongue

Ok I think I understand now, what about the noun phrase
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JustALassIf 'well' was an option the answer would have been easy.
Not really. Then you'd have two right answers: badly and well.
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JustALassHow can I decide if it's a noun phrase or not?
That is the only possible (correct) way to interpret "I didn't know he spoke English as [adjective] as that". Within the context of the question, the setter was probably focusing on "good" being used incorrectly as an adverb, and probably did not notice that it could validly be read as an adjective.
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CalifJimBy the way, I wouldn't call it a noun phrase; I'd call it a (reduced) relative clause: English (which is) as good as that.)
Isn't "English which is as good as that" a noun phrase?
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CalifJimNot really. Then you'd have two right answers: badly and well.
Good point
CalifJimYou can't. Nobody can. Not really. In an exam situation, however, it's a matter of deciding how likely each of several competing interpretations might be. As a native speaker myself, I find the 'noun phrase' interpretation completely unlikely withi
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GPYIsn't "English which is as good as that" a noun phrase?
Yes. I believe there was some misunderstanding there, and I wasn't clear enough. I was drawing attention to that part minus the word English.

CJ
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GPYthe setter was probably focusing on "good" being used incorrectly as an adverb, and probably did not notice that it could validly be read as an adjective.
Or maybe the setter was trying to catch my poor linguistics student out, he is only in high school though so I guess (and hope) that is unlikely.
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