In Russian, the word “good” can express agreement, note the quality of something, use instead of “okay”, promise something. In English, different words are used for these situations, although in Russian they can all be translated with one single word "good." This article will analyze one of the English options and answer the question of what is well and how to use this word in sentences. Concrete examples will also be given. But first things first.
What is well?
Well is used in English most often as an adverb. In Russian, the translation of the word well sounds like "good." Since it is most often used as an adverb, this word is put after the verb at the end of the sentence. However, when it comes to health, this rule is not respected, and well can be in the middle of a sentence before a noun. Moreover, if you need to say that a person looks good, it is better to use good. Because with well, it turns out that the person looks healthy, and not attractive.
Examples of offers
Now, in practice and examples, you can figure out how to use well.
He speaks English well! He speaks good English! You have done this task very well! You did a very good job with this task!
This is exactly the case when well is used as an adverb, and translating a word from English into Russian sounds like “good.”
- How are you?
- Very well.
- How do you feel?
- Very well.
In this case, well serves as an answer to the question about health.
Unusual cases
Very often you can hear the phrase “sounds good”, which does not at all fit with the rule named at the beginning. Or it’s worth recalling the line from the song known to everyone - I feel good. Like so, it goes well after the verb, but why is it good here? It's not a mistake. It is worth remembering a small list of verbs, after which good is used as an adjective: be, look, seem, feel, sound, appear, taste, smell. In these cases, it is preferable to use the adjective, because it is not related to the verb. An adjective describes a subject.
Well and good stand very close in the grammar of the English language, but still you need to be able to distinguish between them. Good acts as an adjective and describes something. To be good looking - look good, i.e. appearance description. To be well dressed - to be well dressed. It also refers to appearance, but it refers to how clothes are chosen.
Also, speech changes very often, a new generation is a new fashion.
New words appear, some sentences are constructed differently, contrary to grammatical rules. And young people sometimes use well instead of very. But you must remember that this is not a normative option, and when writing exam papers it is better to refrain from experimenting. The testers are unlikely to appreciate this, and are more likely to accept this option as a mistake.