Guest  +  21699 Sat, 07 Feb 04 05:32 AM Hello, I have a bet with a friend about the usage of the word "good". He says that the sentence "I can spell good." is not correct grammar, and it should be "I can spell well.". While I agree with my friend's idea, I always thought it wasn't a grammar rule and it is just suggested to use "well" instead of "good" in that context. Since good can be used as an adverb as well as an adjective, it should work well in that sentence. Can you please verify this rule for me? Guest Grammar, Verbs, Adverbs

	dinosm  +  21717 Sat, 07 Feb 04 07:58 PM The word 'good' is grammatically an adjective ('he is a good man') or a noun ('for the good of the country'), not an adverb. Hence, although many people use it in ways like 'I can dance good', that usage is incorrect. dinosm Joined on Fri, Nov 28 2003 Manchester, U.K. New Member 43 Verbs, Nouns, Adverbs

	maj  +  21724 Sat, 07 Feb 04 08:52 PM "I can dance good". You would need to use an adverb there. "I can dance well". In theory an adjective modifies a noun, and a adverb modifies a verb. If you want to use an adjective you would need a noun. "Are you a good dancer?" maj Joined on Mon, Mar 31 2003 Senior Member 4,756 Verbs, Nouns, Adverbs

	whl626  +  21761 Sun, 08 Feb 04 04:02 PM Some people here use ' well ' as a noun. eg. I am very well, I hope you are in the well. :p:p:p ( Of course, good speakers won't say that ) whl626 Joined on Sun, Aug 24 2003 Regular Member 882 Learn English every day Nouns

	rommie  +  21836 Mon, 09 Feb 04 10:43 AM It's what the British call an "Americanism", as it seems to be a practice which originated there. Television and the internet mean the British are starting to do it too. In summary: The English tend to use adverbs correctly. The Americans do things different. It is formally incorrect. HOWEVER - English word order is such that replacing an adverb with an adjective is USUALLY harmless (by which I mean, not ambiguous), so I foresee that this trend will continue. There are rare occasions, however, when such substitution _would be_ ambiguous, and in such circumstances, even the Americans would hesititate to drop the "-ly". Consider: 1. He liked her enormously. 2. He liked her enormous. Rommie rommie Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004 Earth orbit Regular Member 606 Verbs, Adverbs, Word Order