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Thursday, September 29, 2016

The Difference Between Good and Well

When do we use “good” and when do we use “well” to describe?

You can say that you dance well. We sing well. I speak English well. Well describes the way we
do something.

When used with the verb “to be,” well describes our state of being - or our health. If I say that “I
am well” or “I am not very well,” I am referring to my health.

My English can not be well because it isn’t a person. Only people can be well (or not well)

What we want to say to describe your English skills is: My English is very good.

Common Native Speaker Mistake
Sometimes, your grammar will be more correct than a native speaker’s grammar. For example, it
is quite common to hear a sentence like, “He dances good.” Grammatically, this is not the best
sentence, but “good” is commonly used to describe the way someone does something.

Exercise

1. Pretend that you need to call / email your boss or teacher to say that you are sick and can not come to work / class today.
2. Describe a hobby that you do well.
3. Describe what communication skills (public speaking, writing email, text messaging, negotiation, resolving conflict, leading meetings, participating in meetings, explaining how to do something, describing an object, describing information like a chart, etc) you do well / are good at.
4. Do you feel that you are not good at any of the above communication skills? Why?