Hello again! Grammar 101 last week went over so well that I thought I'd send out a second lesson for anyone who'd like to self-educate during this self-quarantine time of craziness.
If you didn't read the first one, I covered misuse of "don't," "could of," "seen," "there," "their," "they're," and a few other things.
In today's lesson, Grammar 102, we're going to begin with GOOD and WELL. Ahhh, I can hear the groans from here. (I hope you noticed my correct use of the homophones "hear" and "here.") Now, I know that almost everyone misuses these two words on a daily basis, but that does NOT make it acceptable for you to continue to misuse them.
In fact, I'm going to go off on a slight tangent here, but it's one that I often use in my grammar class at school to make a point. Think about watching a sporting event, especially a sport that you love and know the rules for it really well. So, you're watching this game either from the sidelines or from your comfy couch at home, and suddenly one of the players does something wrong, but the referee doesn't see it. You, however, see it. How do you react? Do you get pissed that the refs let something slide, or do you just shrug it off because it's one of those fouls that seem to be far too prevalent nowadays? I suspect that if you are a true fan of the sport you get mad, and you probably even yell at the ref. You say something like, "How could you have missed that?!" or "Are you blind?!" or even "Where'd you learn to referee? You don't know your head from your ass!"
Now, think how you feel when you witness an uncalled foul in your favorite sport. Channel that feeling. . . . That's how I feel every time I witness a grammar gaffe made by people who should know their heads from their asses! If you can learn the rules of a sport so well that you are an armchair referee, then you can also learn the rules of the language you use every single day. If you can't, or if you refuse out of sheer laziness, then don't be shocked to find yourself at the end of a verbal tirade by someone like me calling FOUL at your misuse of basic English grammar.
So, let's get back to GOOD and WELL. Here's the simplistic explanation: GOOD is an adjective, and WELL is an adverb. Yes, there are exceptions, and they both do have other uses, and blah, blah, blah; however, they are misused because people confuse them concerning whether they need an adjective or adverb in their sentences. Of course, when I get that simplistic, I often get blank looks, especially concerning that word ADVERB.
Let's go simple about adverbs, too. After all, my main point of this post is to get people to stop making the common mistakes with these two words. There are all kinds of in-depth grammar books, articles, posts, etc. for anyone who really wants to go in-depth with the words GOOD and WELL. Simplistically speaking, an adverb tells HOW you do something, especially concerning the word WELL. It modifies (kind of describes) the verb (the action).
Examples: We played well yesterday. (not "good" -- well) They danced really well on stage. (How'd they dance? Well.) He shot really well from beyond the three-point line. You behaved well in class today. I know him well. (Again, how do I know him? Well.) Some people say I write well. The student did well on her test. (How did she do? Well.)
If you're explaining HOW you did or do something (the action or verb), use WELL.
If you're describing something or someone (a noun or a pronoun), then you need an adjective, so you might want to use GOOD to describe that thing or person.
Examples: Today is a good day. (day = noun) How is the cake? It is good! (it = pronoun) You are such a good dog. Who's a good dog? You're a good dog! That's a good book; you should read it.
If you are telling what something or someone is like, and the best word you can come up with at the time is GOOD, that's all right because GOOD is an adjective, and it's an adjective's job to describe a noun or a pronoun. So, you'll be doing a good job and using good grammar if you use good to describe something.
I've taken enough of your time today, but I do want to share one more mistake that I see people making a lot. It's that very thing -- a lot. A LOT. Two separate words. A . . . space . . . LOT. It's not one word. It's not alot. That's not a word. The word "allot" exists, but it has a totally different meaning."I hope to have a lot of readers." "Wow, there are a lot of words misspelled in that book." "3,000 pieces in that puzzle?! That's a lot of pieces."
Thanks for reading. You've been a GOOD student. I hope you learned A LOT. If you continue to study WELL, don't be surprised to find yourself becoming a sideline grammar referee like I am. We're an unappreciated, but important, part of the most interesting sport out there -- proper communication!
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