Dear Geist,
Which is right, “I feel badly” or “I feel bad”?
—Layla, Truro NS
Dear Layla,
It’s not unusual to hear people say “I feel badly,” perhaps because it sounds more correct, but “I feel bad” is grammatically right. Feel is a linking verb, a verb that describes the subject (“I,” in this sentence). It indicates a state of being rather than an action, and therefore it calls for an adjective (bad) rather than an adverb (badly). Other linking verbs include seem, become, sound and appear. And now, two complications. First, spoken English has produced adjectives that sound like adverbs, such as poorly, as in “She is feeling poorly,” which is also right. Second, in real life no one is likely to misinterpret the statement “I feel badly.”
—The Editors
