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Alexander Malashenko Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Common adverbs...
1. "I like driving fast." - This appears to be correct, yet "fast" is an adjective. I guess, I can say: "I like driving quickly", but it just doesn't look right.
2. For that matter, here is another example: "I prefer to speak right." I can't really say: "I prefer to speak rightly". In these cases, I substitute "right" with "correct" or "correctly", depending on whether I need an adjective or an adverb. Although, "right" is another one of those words whose meaning changes slightly upon its conversion from an adjective to an adverb.
3. “I feel bad about it” vs. “I feel badly about it”. I have read articles indicating that both versions are correct, with some articles even stating that “I feel bad about it” is more appropriate grammatically (?). What rule can I use in cases of “bad” vs. “badly”?
4. “This tastes good” vs. “This tastes well”. The latter version makes no sense, even though it should be grammatically correct. Does this mean that “good” can be used as an adverb in some cases? If yes, is there a general rule that can be defined and formulated clearly?
I love learning the nuances of the English language, and I always want to speak and write correctly, teaching my kids to do the same. Because of this, I find myself performing all kinds of verbal “acrobatics”, shifting and substituting words and phrases that I am not sure about with words that I don’t really want to use, but I am sure about their grammatical correctness. This can become quite exhausting because I tend to do that even in routine conversation with the members of my family…
I would really appreciate, if someone could take the time to explain the use of "right", "rightly", "fast", "fastly?" (if there is such a word) / "quickly", “good”, “well” with an emphasis on the adverb forms of the aforementioned words, because the use of the adjectives is fairly clear-cut… Or, if anyone has a link to an article, it would be helpful, too. Is there a list of adjectives that can be used as adverbs without changing their written form?
Thank you in advance for your time and patience… And I really appreciate the warm welcome to this cyber community…
2. For that matter, here is another example: "I prefer to speak right." I can't really say: "I prefer to speak rightly". In these cases, I substitute "right" with "correct" or "correctly", depending on whether I need an adjective or an adverb. Although, "right" is another one of those words whose meaning changes slightly upon its conversion from an adjective to an adverb.
3. “I feel bad about it” vs. “I feel badly about it”. I have read articles indicating that both versions are correct, with some articles even stating that “I feel bad about it” is more appropriate grammatically (?). What rule can I use in cases of “bad” vs. “badly”?
4. “This tastes good” vs. “This tastes well”. The latter version makes no sense, even though it should be grammatically correct. Does this mean that “good” can be used as an adverb in some cases? If yes, is there a general rule that can be defined and formulated clearly?
I love learning the nuances of the English language, and I always want to speak and write correctly, teaching my kids to do the same. Because of this, I find myself performing all kinds of verbal “acrobatics”, shifting and substituting words and phrases that I am not sure about with words that I don’t really want to use, but I am sure about their grammatical correctness. This can become quite exhausting because I tend to do that even in routine conversation with the members of my family…
I would really appreciate, if someone could take the time to explain the use of "right", "rightly", "fast", "fastly?" (if there is such a word) / "quickly", “good”, “well” with an emphasis on the adverb forms of the aforementioned words, because the use of the adjectives is fairly clear-cut… Or, if anyone has a link to an article, it would be helpful, too. Is there a list of adjectives that can be used as adverbs without changing their written form?
Thank you in advance for your time and patience… And I really appreciate the warm welcome to this cyber community…
Top answer
Hello Alexander, 1. Some words have both an adjective form and an adverb form. "Fast" is one of them.
- Hello Alexander, 1.
- Some words have both an adjective form and an adverb form.
- "Fast" is one of them.
- " When you look it up in the dictionary, make sure you look for all the forms, not just the first one.
- 2.
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3 Answers
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Hello Alexander,
1. Some words have both an adjective form and an adverb form. "Fast" is one of them. So is "fair." When you look it up in the dictionary, make sure you look for all the forms, not just the first one.
2. This should be "correctly." This one doesn't have an adverb meaning.
3 & 4: Taste and feel are different types of verbs than, say, drive or speak. You l
1. Some words have both an adjective form and an adverb form. "Fast" is one of them. So is "fair." When you look it up in the dictionary, make sure you look for all the forms, not just the first one.
2. This should be "correctly." This one doesn't have an adverb meaning.
3 & 4: Taste and feel are different types of verbs than, say, drive or speak. You l
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Regarding 2:
Does this mean that it would be incorrect to say: "This doesn't sound right?" Since, you say that "right" doesn't have an adverb meaning... Did I understand you correctly?
Thanks
Does this mean that it would be incorrect to say: "This doesn't sound right?" Since, you say that "right" doesn't have an adverb meaning... Did I understand you correctly?
Thanks
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