Revised as of 18 April 2021
Well, have you been good?
Oh? You have? Been good?
How dull for you…*grin*…
Okay, back to being serious, seriously good.
In the main:
- Good is an adjective and is informally used as an adverb to indicate health
- Well is an adverb that is sometimes used, formally, as an adjective to indicate good health
| Informal Usage – Good | Formal Usage – Well |
|---|---|
| I feel good.
I feel healthy. I am in a good mood. |
I feel well.
I feel healthy. |
Well, the Adverb So-Useful as a Compound Adjective
Using well as an adverb can be incredibly handy to form hyphenated compound adjectives (or not), which may be attributive or predicative. Okay, lol, I can hear it now: WTF??
The attributive position of well is in front of the noun and hyphenated, describing or expressing a characteristic of the noun that follows. Well, c’mon, this really is a well-intentioned post meant to help. This is a well-known fact, in fact.
The predicative position of well follows the noun being described, but does not hyphenate. In fact, this fact is well known. If you must know, this post is quite well intentioned in providing you with well-known information.
Restricted Good and Well
As the confusion is primarily restricted to adjective versus adverb, I’ve left out exploring their other “personas” as exclamations, nouns, and an intransitive verb. So don’t go thinkin’ this is all ya gotta know.
You may also want to explore the post, “Good, Better, Best” for a different take on good while well, as a hyphenated compound adjective, is explored in “Adjectives“.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Good versus Well” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Good | Well |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: good | |
A Collage of Mother Teresa by Peter López is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — Mother Teresa epitomized good. |
.jpg)
A Job Well Done, 27 June 2009, is courtesy of Western Arctic National Parklands and under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Adverb | Adverb |
| Adjective: To be desired or approved of
Having the qualities required for a particular role
Of high quality
Possessing or displaying moral virtue
Giving pleasure
[Attrib.] Thorough
[Of a ticket] Valid
Used in conjunction with the name of God or a related expression as an exclamation of extreme surprise or anger Adverb: |
Adjective: [Predic.] In good health
Sensible
Adverb:
In a thorough manner
Very probably
|
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: We have a good quality of life. Good! The more people the better! We live at peace with each other, which is good. She was pleased to hear good news about him. The play had good reviews. The schools here are good. I’m good at crosswords. He was good with children. Too much sun is not good for you. This is a good month for planting seeds. She speaks good English. I am the eldest of five in a good Catholic family. I’ve met many good people who made me feel ashamed of my own shortcomings. The rich and the good shared the same fate as the poor and the bad. You are good — thank you. Accustom the child to being rewarded for good behavior. The good people of the city were disconcerted. He was concerned with establishing and maintaining his good name. He comes from a good family. The streets fill up with people looking for a good time. You’re looking pretty good. He went upstairs to change out of his good suit. Have a good look around. The attic needed a good cleaning. They’re a good twenty years younger than us. We had a good long hug. It’ll be good and dark by then. There’s a good chance that we may be able to help you. We have a good crowd tonight. The ticket is good for travel from May to September. They found him good for a laugh. His money was good for a bottle of whiskey. Good heavens! Adverb: I wish I could play this good! Yes, we knew him pretty good. |
Adjective: I don’t feel very well. It would be some time before Sarah was completely well. He was not a well man. All is not well in her ideal-looking town. It would be well to know just what this suggestion entails. Adverb: You did well to come and tell me. It was a well-timed exit. The exit was well timed. His campaign did not go well. The animals will remain loyal to humans, if treated well. People spoke well of him. The film was quite well reviewed at the time. It was a well-reviewed film at the time. She took it very well, all things considered. She would marry well or not at all. They lived well and were generous with their money. Hail fellow, well met. Add the mustard and lemon juice and mix well. The visit had been planned well in advance. She was a well-loved mother. She was a mother who was well loved. He knew my father very well. He was well out of order. I should damn well hope so. Being short of breath may well be the first sign of asthma. She could well afford to pay for the reception herself. “What are we doing here?” “You may well ask.” |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: better, best, good-for-nothing, good-hearted, good-humored, goodish, good-looking, good-natured, good-quality, good-sized, good-tempered, good-time, goodlier, goodliest, goodly, goody-goody, quasi-good Adverb: good-heartedly, good-humoredly, good-naturedly, good-temperedly Exclamation: good-by, goodby, goodbye, goodness, goody Noun: goodbye, goodbyes, goodby, goodbys, good-by, good-for-nothing, Good Friday, good-heartedness, Good-King-Henry, good-looker, goodie, goodies, goodly, goodliness, goodman, goodness, goods, goodwife, goodwives, goodwill, goody, goody-goody, the good |
Adjective: better, best Exclamation: well Noun: well Verb, intransitive: well |
| History of the Word: | |
| Old English | Old English wel(l) is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch wel and the German wohl; probably also to the verb will. Vowel lengthening in Middle English gave rise to the current Scots form weel. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves?
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
What I Have Done is Yours; What I Have to Do is Yours…, <https://visualhunt.com/f2/photo/3655586695/2747b4c898/>, by Parvin ♣, <https://visualhunt.com/author/44b98e>; (OFF for a while) is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license and Thumb Up, <https://visualhunt.com/photo/153956/>, by ramdlon is in the public domain; both are via VisualHunt.
