英语语法：137 "Bad" Versus "Badly"

By Mignon Fogarty

Today's topic is “bad” versus¹ “badly,” and to make it fun we have a celebrity² smack³ down.
On this week's Celebrity Apprentice⁴, Donald Trump⁵ corrected Cyndi Lauper. Here's a clip.
[audio clip]
Not only is Donald Trump not very nice, but he's also wrong. “I feel bad,” is perfectly⁶ acceptable. In fact, it's the best way to say it. Poor Cyndi Lauper.
Although Donald should feel bad about being a big ol' meanie, he shouldn't feel too bad about confusing “bad” and “badly” because it's a common error.
The short answer is that it is correct to say you feel bad when you are expressing an emotion.
Action Verbs
The reason it's easy to be confused is that “feel” can be a linking verb or an action verb. Action verbs are easy to understand. They describe actions. If I reach out and touch your cashmere sweater to see how soft it is, I've taken an action. I am feeling your sweater.
Linking Verbs
Linking verbs are more subtle. They describe emotions or states of being. If I am regretful about something and I want to describe my feelings, I'm describing my state of mind, not an action.
The verb “to be” is the linking verb most people know about. When you say “I am bad,” you're describing your state. You can think of linking verbs as linking a subject to its state. Forms of “to be” include “is,” “am,” “was,” “were,” and “are.”
Verbs That Go Both Ways
Verbs that describe senses such as “feel,” “smell,” and “taste” can be linking verbs or action verbs, and to know which words modify them, you have to know the difference. That's because you use adverbs to describe action verbs, and adjectives to describe linking verbs.
If I am having trouble getting my fingers to your sweater, I am feeling badly. “Badly” is the adverb that describes how I'm doing with the feeling action.
If Cyndi Lauper is anxious about naming the person Donald Trump should fire, she feels bad. “Bad” is the adjective that describes the state of her emotions.
The Quick and Dirty Tip
Fortunately, there's a quick and dirty tip to help you figure out whether you're dealing⁷ with an action verb or a linking verb if Donald Trump ever calls you out on national TV.
Remember that I said the verb “to be” is always a linking verb? The trick is to use it to test your sentence to see if you can replace the verb in question with a form of “to be,” such as “is” or “was.” If you can, you're dealing with a linking verb. If you can't, you're dealing with an action verb.
In Cyndi's sentence, you can replace “feel” with “am.” “I feel bad” becomes “I am bad.” Since you can make the verb swap⁸, you know that “feel” is a linking verb in that sentence and is describing her state. “Bad” is an adjective, and you use adjectives to describe linking verbs.
But in Donald's sentence, you can't replace “feel” with “am.” “I feel badly” becomes “I am badly,” which doesn't make any sense. Since you can't make the swap, you know that “feel” is an action verb in that sentence; it's describing an action. It means there's a problem with the action of feeling, but that isn't what Cyndi meant.
A Smelly Problem
Let's do one more example with the word “smell,” which is another verb that can be a linking verb or an action verb.
You can exist in a state of being smelly, or you can actively⁹ smell something—a luscious¹⁰ chocolate or a horrible old sock.
If you want to describe your state, then “smell” is a linking verb. You could write “That smells bad.” Notice again how you can replace the linking verb with “is” and the sentence still works. “That smells bad” becomes “That is bad.”
But if you want to describe the action of smelling, “smell” is an action verb. Maybe you have an old dog who can't smell anymore and doesn't find treats you hide for him. You could explain to a friend by saying “He smells badly.” Notice how that sentence doesn't work if you replace “smells” with “is.” You get “He is badly,” which doesn't make sense, so it confirms that you aren't dealing with a linking verb, so the adverb “badly” is the right choice.
Summary
Linking verbs can be replaced with forms of “to be” and you modify them with adjectives. Action verbs can't be replaced with forms of “to be,” and you modify them with adverbs.
Fear no real estate mogul giving grammar rebukes¹¹.
Today's episode is sponsored by—me! My book The Grammar Devotional makes a great graduation gift whether graduates are going on to college or heading right into the workforce¹².
Thanks to Kristin Thiel for sending me the link to the clip from Celebrity Apprentice that I used at the beginning of this show.

 

1 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

2 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

3 smack   

vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍

参考例句：

• She gave him a smack on the face.她打了他一个嘴巴。
• I gave the fly a smack with the magazine.我用杂志拍了一下苍蝇。

4 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 luscious   

adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的

参考例句：

• The watermelon was very luscious.Everyone wanted another slice.西瓜很可口，每个人都想再来一片。
• What I like most about Gabby is her luscious lips!我最喜欢的是盖比那性感饱满的双唇！

11 rebukes   

责难或指责( rebuke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His industry rebukes me. 他的勤劳使我感到惭傀。
• The manager's rebukes in loud voice and stern expression have made the clerks gathered in the out office start with alarm. 老板声色俱厉的责备把聚集在办公室外的职员们吓坏了。

12 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。