Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-05-12
English Grammar---"Bsd" or "BadIy.o

English Grammar---"Bad" or GLADLY,
Is there any law for the use of adiectives
with verbs2 If so, what is it2 Would you
say. for example, II felt bad when saw
him ?" Or would you say, 81 felt badly" &c. {?
Some hold, as does the writer, that the for
mer is correct. Others claim that the ad-
verbal form, bddly, should be used in such
cases. But, to the writer, this latter form
sounds affected, seems harsh, forced, pc
dantic In support of his view, that bad is
the correct form in the above sentence, he
refers, first, to "a Grammar of the English
Language by w. H. Wells" where he says,
n. 1G2 IAN adjective may be used TO express
an attribute or quality, which results from
tbe action of the verb with which it is con-
nected. Adiectives of this description relate
boih TO the verb and the noun or pronoun,
and may be called ddoerbidl ddjecti0es" Ex-
ampes "The door was painted green"
"Chidren just let loose from school" 1.-THE
exiles had grown familiar"
Prof Fowler, in his English Grammar
for Colleges and Schools" p. 534, speaks of
verbs which admit predicate after them
such as IAN adjective agreeing with the sub
iect." as copulative or appositional verbs I;
a. III should 30 mad" "He obliged the Nile
To run bLoodg." "In these examples" says
Fowler, ''the acd0le predicate is made up of
the predicate element in the verb, taken with
the adjective. Each verb may be viewed as
a strengthened copula. The verbs to become
10 qro,o to remain, to seem, to be chosen, to be
named, to feel, as TO feel strong, and many
others, belong to this class" And again, in
his Syntax of the adjective p. 4S7, he says !:
"Nany English verbs take an adjective with
them to form the predicate, where an adverb
would be used in other languages as, HE
fell ill.," "He looks pale" HE feels cold. "
Green's Grammar, speaking of the pecu-
liar use of words says: Certain phrases or
combinations become idiomatic and practical
" inseparable, when their meaning and force
are lost by analysis" As an example of this
he names, p. 2S5, "An ddjectiUe 1oth Cer6 I;
rs. to ardlb ldBle to come tdte," &c. and he
adds, Here the adjectives or participates be-
lnnp to the subject, but modify the action 4"
And again he says, p. 226, AN adjective in
the predicate, yet referring to the subject is
often used somewhat adverbially to express
an accompanying action; as, the maiden sat
there sad And again he says, same page !;
1.-THE predicate adjective following c0puld-
tire uerJs generally denotes some property of
the subject, either already expressed by it,,
or acquired through the action of the verb /;
as, The boy was made SICK.
"Norton's Weld and Quackenbos" says, p.
1872: eau adjective following an intransitive
verb is generally used correctly when the
verb to be in a corresponding part can be sub,
sttuted for the intransitive verb; ;" as "Ho
looks aoarm," /. e., he is aodrm. "But to this
rule" says the same authority, there are
many exceptions;" i.e., an adjective may
often be used with an intransitive verb where
the verb to be cannot be substituted.
Now, in the example before us, II felt
bad" &c, it might be said that this is one of
the "many exceptions" But looking at it
more carefully, and seeing what is really
meant by the word bad" viz, sad, sorry,
grieued, the phrase, 81 felt bad" 1. G., felt
sad, sorry, or grieDed, or was sad, sorry or
grieved, is no exception to the preceding
rule, and differs essentially in nothing from
the many examples already given. The fact
is, the grammar of the phrase, II felt bad
is all right The trouble, if trouble there be,
is in the rhetoric, the word bad being gen
orally used to denote the moral quality of
ecH, gicious aoicked, rather than something
paiafM or grieC0us. Nor does it help even
the rhetoric, much less the grammar, TO
change "Jdd' to badly. L. O.