Good/well

Question

Hi,I got confused with something that is actually very easy.I want to know which adjective fits better:She drives good/well. Isn't is possible to say she drives good? Does it sound unnatural? I just found this sentence in a class test, which I wrote two years ago. My teacher underlined the word good and replaced it with well.Are there other ways to express this. Somehow I didn't find anything concerning this in the internet.Alex

Adel Ali · Accepted Answer

drives should be followed by an "adverb" not an "adjective" ... and good is not adverb ... good is adjective ... like bad and badly ... bad is the adjective while badly is the adverb <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/2.gif' alt='Emotion: big smile'/>

Ivanhr · Answer

I suppose the most natural way to say that would be

She's a good driver.

unless, of course, you're speaking of a car and referring to that car with "she" in which case "She drives well" is okay.

Alex-93 · Answer

Thanks so far Ivanhr ,

referring to a car with "she"? If I would refer to the car I would use "it". She's a good driver is a better version, you're right. But is "She drives well" only in that case correct?

Ivanhr · Answer

Alex-93Thanks so far Ivanhr ,referring to a car with "she"? If I would refer to the car I would use "it". She's a good driver is a better version, you're right. But is "She drives well" only in that case correct?

If you really love your car then it's quite common to refer to it as "she". For this reason, "She drives well" should be avoided unless spoken of a car/bike/boat etc.

Alex-93 · Answer

Ok, I do understand.

But I really ask myself why my teacher's correction was "She drives well". "She" was refered to a person who is doing her driving test.

Ivanhr · Answer

Wait for other people' opinions.

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

Hi,

Alex-93Ok, I do understand.But I really ask myself why my teacher's correction was "She drives well". "She" was refered to a person who is doing her driving test.

The answer has already been given by Adel Ali.

Adverbs describe:

adjectives
adverbs
verbs
part of a sentence

Adjectives describe nouns.

If, in the example, the speaker's intention is to express that someone is a good driver, you should use 'well'. 'Well' is the adverb form of the adjective 'good'. Grammatically speaking, it must used here because it refers to a verb. Not a noun.

If, on the other hand, the verb is a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copula (linguistics)">copula, the adjective form 'good' is used.

Adverb form: She drives well. Adjective form: Yes, she is good.
She is doing well. She is a good driver.
She is an excellent driver.

However, I sometimes hear (especially in American English) people say things like:

That's real good.

Real acts as an intensifier of good, which is an adjective. This means real should have been an adverb, which is written 'really'. Sometimes I feel this is what is also going on with 'good and well'. I cannot give you any more examples of this, but I am guessing native English teachers/speakers do not consider it to be correct usage -- yet.

Best wishes,

- DJB -

Ivanhr · Answer

Going back to the original question, it's possible to use good instead of well in spoken, casual English. Of course your teacher expected you to use an adverb with a verb.

We had a lot of guys play good and our bench was great. (you can hear this quite often)

Kooyeen · Answer

Listen to me good!
It can be an adverb - http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/good_3

From Merriam Webster:
Adverbial good has been under attack from the schoolroom since the 19th century. Insistence on well rather than good has resulted in a split in connotation: well is standard, neutral, and colorless, while good is emotionally charged and emphatic. This makes good the adverb of choice in sports <“I'm seeing the ball real good” is what you hear — Roger Angell>. In such contexts as <listen up. And listen good — Alex Karras> <lets fly with his tomatoes before they can flee. He gets Clarence good — Charles Dickinson> good cannot be adequately replaced by well. Adverbial good is primarily a spoken form; in writing it occurs in reported and fictional speech and in generally familiar or informal contexts.

Alex-93 · Answer

Ok I got it now. Thanks for your ansers DJ, Kooyeen and Ivanhr.

Good/well

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