Good Vs Well: Practice

If you are confused about when you need to use (and NOT to use) ‘good’ and ‘well’, then join me for this lesson.

You will learn:

- how to answer the question “How are you?”using good or well

- where to place good or well in a sentence

- the difference between ‘Paul smells good” and “Paul smells well” ...and more.

Transcript

Hi, How are you?

I'm good, I mean I'm well.

Actually no, I'm good.

To be honest...I'm not sure!

A big thank to my husband for his short but very powerful cameo 😂😂

So… how are you?

OK, to answer that question,

Let's go back to some grammar basics.

Good is an adjective.

It tells us more about a noun.

For example,

- He is a good dancer

- She did a good job.

Well - on the other hand is an adverb and tells us more about a verb, another adverb or an adjective.

It answers the question "how?"

For example,

- He plays the piano well.

How does he play the piano?

- He did well on the exam.

How did he do on the exam?

- She speaks English well.

How does she speak English?

Ok, first Pop Quiz.

- Maria didn’t sing good at the recital

or

- Maria didn’t sing well at the recital.

Yes of course, it's the 2nd answer.

Because well describes how well Maria sang.

It doesn't actually talk about Maria herself.

So, if someone asks you, how are you?

Do you answer, I am good or I am well ?

Well, the answer actually depends.

- If they are asking about your emotional state, your general state or your mood,

then the answer is 'I am good".

- If they are asking specifically about your health,

then the answer is ‘I am well’, or ‘I am feeling well’. .

Pop Quiz.

- I heard you got the Coronavirus! How are you feeling?

Not well, Tim said, I’m still laid up in bed with a fever.

- I heard you had the Coronavirus! How are you feeling?

Not good,

Tim said, I’m still laid up in bed with a fever.

So, is it the 1st or 2nd answer there?

Yes of course, it's the first because we are inquiring specifically about Tim's health.

Similarly, when we say,

“I hope you are well” or “I hope you are doing well” normally at the start of emails.

Well we are thinking about that person's health in particular.

When using verbs that describe senses, like FEEL, LOOK, SMELL and TASTE,

the use of good or well actually depends on whether you use that verb actively or not.

I'll explain in a little more detail.

Let's look at the verb FEEL.

- Paul saw a lovely park bench and decided to sit down. It had just rained so he felt the bench well in case, it was wet.

(In this sentence we are describing, Paul actively feeling the bench to see if it was wet).

- Lola earns lots of money, but gives most of it away to charity, which makes her feel good.

(Here we use good, to describe Lola’s emotional state, not her physical sense of touch).

Let’s take the verb SMELL.

- John smells good today. Is he wearing a new aftershave?

(So in this sentence, the word good is describing John, not how John smells something with his nose. We are not using the verb smell actively).

However in the next sentence,

- Paul smells well. We call him the beagle!

(Then we are actively talking Paul's sense of smell and we compare him to a beagle which is a dog famous for its sense of smell).

Another example,

Let’s take the two sentences,

- You look well today.

- You look good today.

In the 1st sentence, are we talking about their health, or just their general state?

Yes, we're talking about their health.

When we say,

- You look well, it means you look healthy, you look vibrant.

Yeah, we are talking about, mainly about their state of health.

In the 2nd one, we are talking more about that they look.

Perhaps, attractive or they are wearing nice clothes or something like that.

Now let’s take another 2 sentences using the sense verb ‘TASTE’

- That dinner you made last night tasted so good!

(Here we are talking about how good the dinner was. The adjective good describes the dinner).

In the 2nd sentence,

- Paul not only smells well, he also tastes well...He can distinguish all the different elements

in a glass of wine.

Here, we are commenting on Paul's ability to taste things.

In this sentence,

It's to taste the different flavour in the wine.

So, he has a good sense of taste.

We are not obviously talking about,

Paul like a food, that he tastes really good when we eat him, that would be just a little Hannibal-esque.

Incidentally, the sense to hear is never used actively.

We can never say,

- He hears good.

We always have to say,

-He hears well.

or

- He has a good sense of hearing.

One last note - on the placement of good and well in a sentence.

I’ll explain this by taking a look at a very common mistake people make.

Can you tell me which of these sentences are correct and which are incorrect?

- You speak English good.

- You speak good English.

- You speak English well.

- You’re English is good.

- You speak very well English.

The 1st sentence is incorrect.

Good guess if you got that one.

It's because good is an adjective and it goes before the noun.

So, it has to go before the English. It tells us more about the English.

The 2nd one is correct.

Of course, because the good is in the right position. It tells us more about the noun English.

The 3rd one is also correct.

It answers the question,

- "How do you speak English?".

You speak English well.

You always put the well after the phrase.

The 4th one is also correct because we can put the adjective after the noun if we have a

linking verb like the verb to be.

- Your English is good.

And I hope you guess that the 5th one is actually wrong too.

We cannot say,

- You speak very well English.

The very well has to go at the end.

- How do you speak English?

You speak English very well.

So, when we have a verb and a noun in the same phrase,

The well or the very well has to go afterwards.

Like in the following sentences.

- The bird flies back to its nest very well.

not

- The bird flies very well back to its nest.

Because if we ask the question.

- How does the bird fly back to its nest?

Then the very well has to go after that phrase or question.

Ok, did I do a very well job or explaining this lesson?

or did I do a very good job of explaining this lesson!

You tell me in the comments below.

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I will be seeing you again next week.

Stay tuned.

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