Therefore
it has to be we eat well as we are describing how we eat
and drink. It might be said that adverbs answer the question ±á´Ç·É…?
whilst adjectives answer the question What sort of…?
Study
the following:
'She speaks good Japanese.'
'She speaks Japanese well.'
'She speaks Japanese better than I do.'
Note that better is the comparative form of both good and well.
In
English, we often play around with basic language, whether consciously
or unconsciously, for effect. So, whilst 'we eat well and drink
well' would be grammatically correct, 'we eat good and
drink well' may be more effective in terms of impact because
it breaks the grammatical rule. I would not recommend it, however,
if you are taking an exam, but it will sound good over a drink
with friends.
Why
not sound well in this particular example? It is because
when we use verbs such as be, seem, appear,
sound, look, feel, smell, taste,
they are followed by adjectives rather than adverbs as we are describing
the subject of the sentence rather than the action of the verb.
So
we have:
'She looks really good in those clothes.'
'The food at the reception tasted really good -
better than the food we had last year.'
'There's no way he'll get a distinction, but the work he's
done appears good enough for a pass.'
'I felt really good when she congratulated me
on winning the essay prize.'
For
similar reasons we would talk about:
A good-looking woman.
A good-natured boy. (good describes his nature)
But we would also say:
A well-dressed woman. (well tells us how she
dresses)
A well-behaved boy. (well tells us how he behaves)
Look up good and well in your dictionaries to see if you can
find further examples of adjectives formed in this way.
The
only time when well can be used as an adjective by itself is
when we are talking about someone's health. Here well means
in good health. Compare the following:
'How are you today?' 'Fine. Very well, thanks. / Not
very well, actually.'
'I often feel unwell when I'm on a boat, but as soon
as I get off, I'm fine.
Note
that the expression well and good is used to indicate that
you find a particular situation satisfactory or acceptable. Thus,
we might say:
'If you can do the job in less time and leave early, I don't
mind. That's (all very) well and good.'
'If you want to stay here on your own over Christmas, well
and good.
Incidentally,
there is now a trend among young people, particularly in the 18 -
25 age range, to use well instead of very in expressions
like:
'I am well happy with that.'
'I was well tired last night.
'She was well pleased with her birthday present.'
Again
it breaks the rule and is effective in the impact it makes.
Well
used in this way often refers to exceptional circumstances or
is used as a summary statement. I wonder if this creative use of
the English language has reached you yet in your part of the world?
