Adverb Abuse

How do you feel?

I knew that this was bound to happen eventually. Even gurus are not infallible. I made a grammar error in my own column. And my readers called me on it.  Lots of them.  Thanks, all!

The mistake in question occurred in my September 30 column, “Can’t We All Just Get Along?” In the final paragraph, I told readers not to feel badly if they have been treating certain singular indefinite pronouns as if they were plural. I should have told them not to feel bad. My bad (pun intended). A classic case of adverb overuse.

Anyhow, I thought I would let you know why I was wrong – in terms of grammar, anyway. Feel is one of those verbs that can function as either a linking verb or an action verb. There are a bunch of these tricky critters, among them grow, smell, seem, appear, and become (this is not an exhaustive list by any wild stretch of the imagination). When you use any of these two-function verbs as linking verbs, they are paired with adjectives: bad, good, quick, and so on. If you are using them as action verbs, they require adverbs: badly, well, quickly, and so on.

So if I say, “He smells bad,” I’m referring to his need for deodorant or other personal hygiene, but if I say, “He smells badly,” I’m letting you know that he has trouble recognizing when his kids have dirty diapers – or at least that’s what he wants his wife to think.

If you aren’t sure whether the verb in question is functioning as a linking verb or an action verb, replace it with a form of to be. In the first example above, smells is functioning as a linking verb; I could replace it with is and still have a logical sentence: He is bad. In the second example, smells is an action verb, proven by the replacement method: He is badly. Yikes.

I wasn’t trying to tell my readers that they need not have a deadened sense of touch if they make mistakes with indefinite pronoun agreement. That is, however, what I did. I think this issue stems from learning from a young age that adverbs modify verbs: we just get adverb crazy. Linking verbs are an exception, as you see.

Speaking of exceptions, you may be wondering about well and good. That, my friends, is an exception. It is grammatically correct to say, “I am good,” when referring to your general overall state of being. It is also correct to say, “I am well,” when you are speaking specifically of your health. Exception noted.