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Bad versus Badly, a la Shmoop. Mary's date with Jim went badly because Jim’s

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B.O. was bad. Poor Mary. But hey, at least she knows her grammar.

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Here's the rule for “bad” and “badly”...

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...use the adjective “bad” after linking verbs...

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...and the adverb “badly” to modify action verbs.

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Now, if you’re wondering what the heck a linking verb is...

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...allow us to explain. A linking verb is a verb that is less about action and more

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about connecting words together.

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“To be” is the linking verb extraordinaire, so let's look at it in an example with “bad”

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and “badly”. When you say “Tim is bad”...

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...you mean that Tim is a horrible person, or amusingly naughty, or maybe his health

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has even taken a turn for the worse.

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You'd never say “Tim is badly”, because then the adverb “badly” would be modifying

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the verb “is”...

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...and your sentence would essentially mean that Tim isn't managing to exist very well.

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On to the action verbs! These are easy.

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You wouldn't say “Tom ran bad”. You'd say “Tom ran badly”.

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You wouldn't say “Pete sang bad”. You'd say “Pete sang badly”.

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In these examples, the adverb “badly” is modifying the action verbs “ran” and

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“sang”. Verbs that could be seen as either linking

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verbs or action verbs, like “to feel” or “to taste”, can be tricky.

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But, never fear! We have an example. When you drink milk that's gone sour, you

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say “It tastes bad”, meaning the milk reminds you of rat poison.

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You wouldn't say “The milk tastes badly”, because then you'd be implying that the milk

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was in possession of a tongue...

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...and was very bad at tasting things. Remember, the rule is...

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...use the adjective “bad” after linking verbs...

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...and the adverb “badly” to modify action verbs.

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Keep this rule in mind, and no will ever be able to apply these two b-words to your grammar.

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