Grammar Mishaps: I feel badly or I feel bad?

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By Robin


Bad vs. Badly

Often I hear the word "badly" used incorrectly. For example, "I feel badly for him because he didn't make the cut". Most grammarians believe that this statement is incorrect. In this case bad is an adjective that we use with the linking verbs: feel, is, seems, looks, or appears.

To feel badly implies that your sense of touch is not right. When you are referring to a sense of touch, then badly is used as an adverb describing the verb to feel or touch.

The correct way to say the sentence is, "I feel bad for him because he didn't make the cut".

Examples

  1. I feel bad that I wasn't able to make the concert.
  2. The teacher felt bad that her student wasn't able to pass the exam.
  3. She burned her hands taking the pie out of the oven, and thus felt badly and couldn't distinguish between soft and rough.
  4. He damaged the nerve endings in an accident, and now feels badly. [He probably also feels (emotionally) bad.]


Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of American Usage's Take on Feel Bad vs. Feel Badly

"The controversy over feel bad and feel badly has been going on for more than a century, and since its beginnings lie in two opposing prescriptive standards—that of the 1869 handbook prescribing feel badly and that of the 20th-century schoolbooks prescribing feel bad—it is unlikely to die out very soon. People will go on about as they do now—some differentiating bad and badly, some not, some avoiding badly, some not. You can see that the question is not a s simple as it is often claimed to be, and, with those considerations in mind, make your own choice. Whatever it is, you will have some worthy comrades and some worthy opponents."

Any comments, thoughts or questions?

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Bob  says:
11 months ago

You need to put the period inside the quotation marks of the above sentences, but your examples are otherwise correct.

Robin profile image

Robin  says:
11 months ago

Hi Bob,

That is actually a rule that is up for debate. I actually prefer not to put my periods inside quotation marks in some instances, although I know that this is a common rule followed in the U.S. Thanks for the comment! Grammar discussions are always fun. ;)

Misha profile image

Misha  says:
8 months ago

Thanks Robin, you keep educating me :)

Julia  says:
6 months ago

Right...end quotation marks following the period is more of an American standard...end quotation marks preceding the period is more of an English standard...

Trahelyk  says:
3 days ago

Rules of punctuation are essentially arbitrary, so the only legitimate "rule" would be one derived from a recognized and relevant style guide. Incidentally, the one I use, _AMA Manual of Style_ (an American guide, albeit with limited international relevance), provides logical guidance for placement of periods with quotation marks: "Place closing quotation marks outside commas and periods, inside colons and semicolons. Place question marks, dashes, and exclamation points inside quotation marks only when they are part of the quoted material. If they apply to the whole statement, place them outside the quotation marks."

If I had my preference, I would apply the second part of that convention to periods as well. Unfortunately, AMA doesn't care about my preference, which makes me feel bad.

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