Welcome to Grammar & Style Tidbits with Snap Language.
[♫ Snap Language Theme song ♫]
[voiceover] “You gonna dig this!”
Hi, I’m Marc Franco.
In a previous Grammar Tidbits with Snap Language,
we saw that we use adjectives to modify nouns, “He’s a nervous employee.”
“He’s a slow walker.”
“He’s a sluggish worker.
(Okay... start moving... anytime now...)
Adjectives are also used with the verb “to be”
to modify the subject or the pronoun.
“This man is nervous.”
“He is slow.”
Adverbs modify the verb or another adjective.
“He’s pacing the floor nervously.”
“She arrived unexpectedly.”
“Mom is visibly happy.”
So, if I were to ask you about an exam you just took, you’d say,
“We did really well.
We passed!”
And how do you think these people feel?
They look happy... (um... happily?!)
They must feel happy... (happily?!)
Wait... why not “happily?”
Doesn’t it modify the verb “feel?!”
Well, some verbs express the senses or changes in the state of the subject.
They’re called linking verbs.
They’re just like the verb “to be,” but with some extra information.
They create a bridge between the subject and an adjective describing it.
They are happy.
They look happy.
They appear happy.
They remained happy for the rest of their lives.
(Woohoo!)
He is proud of himself.
He looks proud of himself.
He is an actor.
He acts well.
He’s acting happy.
Here, the verb implies an activity, and the adverb describes
how someone engages in the activity.
Here, the verb is just linking the subject to the adjective that describes it.
If you ARE unhappy,
sometimes you can act as if you were happy
until you BECOME happy.
So, you act happy till you get happy.
You know, that “fake it till you make it” thing.
Does that work for you?
Another way to understand linking verbs
is to compare them with verbs express an action
that the subject performs.
Take the verb “to taste,” for example.
If you say, “the cake tastes good,” you’re linking “good” to “the cake.”
Essentially, you’re saying
“the cake is good” because of its taste.
If you say, “I tasted the cake slowly,” you’re actually performing an action...
the action of putting the cake in your mouth and tasting it.
That’s why you use an adverb here.
You’re describing an action, the action of tasting something.
Hey, let’s play a game.
I’ll give you some sentences, and you tell me
if you should use an adjective or an adverb.
But before we do that,
did you know you can join the Snap Language channel
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So, let’s do this!
My presentation went very...
well yesterday.
I think I’m getting sick. I don’t feel...
very well.
(Remember: in the previous video, we saw that “well” can be an adjective.)
He looked very...
very suspicious.
He’s been looking at me...
strangely.
(That’s not what his appearance was like.
It’s how he was doing something...
how he was looking at me.)
How about this one?
— How are you doing?
— I’m doing...
Okay, this is a trick question.
It could be both.
If you’re not sure why, check the link in the description and watch
the previous video.
— How did you do on the test?
— I did...
I did really well.
— You don’t seem...
happy about it, though.
— I could’ve done better if I had worked the problems more...
carefully.
The cake tastes...
really good.
(Ah! “Really” modifies “good.”
Remember, adverbs can modify adjectives, too.)
I felt the fabric...
gently.
The fabric felt...
soft.
All right!
I hope you did well.
These distinctions can be tricky sometimes.
Especially in formal writing, make sure to use an adjective
when you’re describing how someone or something IS.
If you can change a verb to the verb “to be,”
it’s probably a linking verb, so you need an adjective.
If you’re describing how someone or something DOES something
you probably need an adverb.
All right, I hope to see you around in the Snap Language language community.
If you have any questions that need more involved answers,
post them to the community tab.
If you’re a member of the channel, I’ll make sure you get an answer.
Be good!... and be well.