How to write good(well).

The words "good" and "well" have often been misused. I can remember way back maybe in junior high school, our English teacher told us when you are speaking about a person's health to use the word "well". When you are speaking about the condition of an item or used as an adjective to describe an opinion or fact, use the word "good."

Examples---Me: "How is John feeling?" Bill: "He is feeling well enough to run the race." (Used to describe health.)
Me: "How was the movie?" Bill: "I thought it was very good." (Used to describe an opinion.)

I still mess it up. I am amazed that I still remember some of this stuff from so long ago when back then I would think, "Who cares?"
 

I had a great aunt who was a stickler when it came to good/well.

She would ask, "How are you?" and if you replied "Good, thank you", she would chide you by saying "I asked about your health, not your morals".

She was rather terrifying but to this day I reply to the question with "I'm well, thanks". In this time of Covid I can see her point.
 
Warrigal said:
I had a great aunt who was a stickler when it came to good/well.

She would ask, "How are you?" and if you replied "Good, thank you", she would chide you by saying "I asked about your health, not your morals".
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I like it, the how are you question is used as more of a greeting than a question by most of us.

People are surprised to hear something other than "fine, well" or "good". My grandfather always answered "no better" or "no worse". I do that on occasion, surprises a lot of people, reminds them they are actually asking a question.
 
The grammar police are alive and well. My English work would come back marked with red ink whenever my teacher disapproved of it's grammatical content.

Shakespeare got me the punishment of detention when I researched a number of The Bard's plays and found incorrect subject-verb agreement. The relationship between a subject and its verb, wrong tense or verb form, incorrect singular/plural agreement, incorrect word form, unclear pronoun reference, incorrect use of articles, wrong or missing prepositions, omitted commas.

If it's good enough for Shakespeare.............
 
Warrigal said:
I had a great aunt who was a stickler when it came to good/well.

She would ask, "How are you?" and if you replied "Good, thank you", she would chide you by saying "I asked about your health, not your morals".

She was rather terrifying but to this day I reply to the question with "I'm well, thanks". In this time of Covid I can see her point.
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Yes, she was correct. I get letters all the time and if I would sit down and correct them for grammar and punctuation, not many would make the grade. I'm talking about letters from big businesses, the military and such. Sometimes I have to wonder, "How did these people make it through school?" It's a good thing for some that English was only one of the 5 major subjects that were needed to be passed to graduate.
 
Been There said:
I get letters all the time and if I would sit down and correct them for grammar and punctuation, not many would make the grade. I'm talking about letters from big businesses, the military and such. Sometimes I have to wonder, "How did these people make it through school?" It's a good thing for some that English was only one of the 5 major subjects that were needed to be passed to graduate.
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As an engineer I can relate to this.

My writing is not great, but people usually understand what I am trying to say. Not true for too many engineers... As I recall we only had to pass the one freshman English class. I think they need to require a course like "Writing for Engineers" or something. I am sure engineers are not the only guilty group, just the one I know best.
 
Been There said:
Yes, she was correct. I get letters all the time and if I would sit down and correct them for grammar and punctuation, not many would make the grade. I'm talking about letters from big businesses, the military and such. Sometimes I have to wonder, "How did these people make it through school?" It's a good thing for some that English was only one of the 5 major subjects that were needed to be passed to graduate.
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My schooling was almost completed before TV arrived in Australia. We listened to radio and went to the movies but most of all we read books. Many books. Our English curriculum was heavy with grammar lessons and exercises where we parsed and analysed sentences. Some exercises required us to find mistakes in sentences and rewrite them correctly. Our exams required handwritten answers - multiple choice questions had not yet become fashionable. At the yearly and half yearly exams we had a dictation test. This consisted of a passage read from a book that we had to write down with full and correct punctuation. Then a list of words were read aloud, with the word in a sentence for context.

I don't blame young people today who cannot write English as I was taught to do. They can use a keyboard and read/write computer code much better than I can, because that is what is required these days. Young women are also more confident when speaking into a microphone than girls who grew up in the days when we were not encouraged to speak up. Public speaking was encouraged for boys, but not for girls.
 
Alligatorob said:
I like it, the how are you question is used as more of a greeting than a question by most of us.

People are surprised to hear something other than "fine, well" or "good". My grandfather always answered "no better" or "no worse". I do that on occasion, surprises a lot of people, reminds them they are actually asking a question.
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My Grandfather was a stickler for correct spelling. If somebody wrote him a letter with incorrect spelling he would get a red pen and put a circle around the word .
 
Alligatorob said:
As an engineer I can relate to this.

My writing is not great, but people usually understand what I am trying to say. Not true for too many engineers... As I recall we only had to pass the one freshman English class. I think they need to require a course like "Writing for Engineers" or something. I am sure engineers are not the only guilty group, just the one I know best.
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You’re correct. My husband is an engineer too, one of the ones who is a stickler about correct grammar. You could be quoting what he often said.
 
Harsh advice. I think we should, first, not be boring. Second, we should be clear. Third, we should be brief. And we should watch our grammar.

re prepositions: A single Latin word sometimes requires several English words for translation (I believe 'to be' is an example), which was the reason a preposition could not be dangling all by itself at the end of a sentence, but had to be kept adjacent to its mate. Today it is acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition.

** This is the kind of thing up with which we shall not put. --Winston Churchill **
 
For those on Facebook that enjoy reading explanations of grammar, check out Captain Grammar Pants. She‘s very logical. Her info is free.
 
gruntlabor said:
Harsh advice. I think we should, first, not be boring. Second, we should be clear. Third, we should be brief. And we should watch our grammar.

re prepositions: A single Latin word sometimes requires several English words for translation (I believe 'to be' is an example), which was the reason a preposition could not be dangling all by itself at the end of a sentence, but had to be kept adjacent to its mate. Today it is acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition.

** This is the kind of thing up with which we shall not put. --Winston Churchill **
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Today it's acceptable? Why?
I got after my publisher because they took one of my sentences and reworded it to let a preposition hang loose at the end.
Don't think that action went over too well. haha!
 
Gaer said:
Today it's acceptable? Why?
I got after my publisher because they took one of my sentences and reworded it to let a preposition hang loose at the end.
Don't think that action went over too well. haha!
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Hi Gaer don’t be upset with your publisher for this reason…

The only time it is not acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition is if you are speaking/writing Latin…or…writing formal literature

The preposition “rule” is based on the rules of Latin grammar not English grammar. So be creative with your writing.
 
horseless carriage said:
The grammar police are alive and well. My English work would come back marked with red ink whenever my teacher disapproved of it's grammatical content.

Shakespeare got me the punishment of detention when I researched a number of The Bard's plays and found incorrect subject-verb agreement. The relationship between a subject and its verb, wrong tense or verb form, incorrect singular/plural agreement, incorrect word form, unclear pronoun reference, incorrect use of articles, wrong or missing prepositions, omitted commas.

If it's good enough for Shakespeare.............
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It is indeed “good enough for Shakespeare” for the era in which he wrote his plays…it is foolhardy to compare the language the Bard used with our modern English and its grammatical inflections.

Shakespeare wrote according to his time in history…the Elizabethan era… comparing it with what is taught in British schools in the 20th century does not make a lot of sense in my opinion.

Language (which includes grammar and vocabulary) is constantly evolving and the English language has changed dramatically over the last 400 years.

Although hundreds of words from Shakespearean times are still in use, the context in which they are used may not be the same today.
You deserved those detentions, lol !
 
The one about not ending sentences with a preposition, needs to be moved to the dust bin of antiquity. Maybe it made sense when English was spoken a different way, but today it makes writing stilted, awkward, and makes communication in both writing and reading harder.

I suppose that was the original point being made by listing all those rules in the way they were. But the preposition one, has got to go.
 
Jamala said:
Although hundreds of words from Shakespearean times are still in use, the context in which they are used may not be the same today.
You deserved those detentions, lol !
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Did you ever think about being a teacher. I was taught by priests, they taught me that God is love and just to make that I and all my classmates got the message, they reinforced it with a big, eighteen inches long, half inch thick, punishment strap.

You should read The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben. It's about two comedians who are asked to do a tribute show on Morecambe and Wise. Fans of Eric and Ernie will know that "The Play Wot I Wrote" was one of their catchphrases.
 
horseless carriage said:
Did you ever think about being a teacher. I was taught by priests, they taught me that God is love and just to make that I and all my classmates got the message, they reinforced it with a big, eighteen inches long, half inch thick, punishment strap.

You should read The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben. It's about two comedians who are asked to do a tribute show on Morecambe and Wise. Fans of Eric and Ernie will know that "The Play Wot I Wrote" was one of their catchphrases.
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I am at a loss to understand the point you are trying to make and its
connection to what I have written about Shakespeare and modern English :unsure:
 
I can't remember all of what you posted...something about alliteration and don't exaggerate. If you're going to write a sentence with a preposition, don't end it with it. I love to write bad. Teehee.
 
Warrigal said:
I had a great aunt who was a stickler when it came to good/well.

She would ask, "How are you?" and if you replied "Good, thank you", she would chide you by saying "I asked about your health, not your morals".

She was rather terrifying but to this day I reply to the question with "I'm well, thanks". In this time of Covid I can see her point.
Click to expand...
I had a great aunt like that. She was a school teacher, and later a school principal, staid & dignified. But, on occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas, she'd drink bottle of wine with my parents. Then her hearty sense of humor would burst forth! She'd get loose... it was one pun after another, as I recall.
 
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