The difference between “good” and “well” is that “good” is an adjective for nouns, while “well” is an adverb for verbs. However, when linking verbs are involved, “good” can be used. To determine if a verb is a linking verb, replace it with “is” or “are” and see if the sentence still makes sense.
Like many annoying details in grammar, the difference between “good” and “good” is both simple and complex. Basically, “good” is an adjective, while “well” is an adverb, but using these words gets much more complicated than that, thanks to a little detail known as linking verbs. If you’ve been pestered for saying “I’m fine,” you might be pleased to know that this usage is indeed correct, and that the difference between these terms is often oversimplified by pedantic individuals.
“Good”, like other adjectives, is used to modify a noun, providing more information about it. For example, you might say “Bronwyn’s dog is good” or “It’s a nice house, very solidly built.” “Bene”, acting as an adverb, is used to modify verbs, like this one: “sing well” or “the cat hunts well”. When considering whether to use “well” or “fine” in a sentence, a speaker should think about whether he is describing an action, such as playing the piano or hitting a baseball, or an object, such as a garden or anvil.
There is an exception to this simple rule of thumb, however. “Good” can be used in sentences like “I’m fine” or “the pizza looks good,” because the verbs involved in these sentences are linking verbs, linking a subject with information about it. A number of words can be used as linking verbs, including ‘seems’, ‘appears’, ‘seems’, ‘grows’, ‘tastes’, ‘becomes’ and the various conjugations of ‘to be’, including ‘ are, “is”, “are”, “was” and so on. Some of these words can also be used as action verbs, but when used as linking verbs, they do not imply action, they simply connect subjects and information.
If you’re starting to get confused about how to use ‘good’ and ‘well’ when linking verbs are involved, luckily there is a very easy way to tell when a verb is being used as a linking verb, and that is to replace it with ” are”, “is” or “are”, as the case may be. If the sentence becomes gobbledygook, the verb is used as an action verb, in which case “good” is appropriate, but if the sentence still makes sense, the speaker should use “good”.
For example, “pasta looks good” sounds perfectly normal when you replace “seems” with “is” to make “pasta looks good,” so “good” is an entirely appropriate word to use. In the sentence “the rabbit smelled the grass but decided not to eat it”, however, when “smelled” is replaced with “is”, the sentence does not make sense, so “smelt” is not used as a linking verb in this case, so some would say that the rabbit smelled the grass “fine”, not “good”.
Many people tend to overcorrect when they struggle with the use of “good” and “good,” but this isn’t necessary if they can remember that “good” goes with nouns and “good” goes with verbs, unless the verbs are not to be used in a linking capacity.
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