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Are you feeling bad or badly?

Question:

I used to say I feel bad. Then, I learned that adverbs modify verbs, so now I say I feel badly. Am I correct?

Answer

While it's true that adverbs modify verbs, in this case, you need an adjective. You need to feel bad. Here's why.

The verb feel can be either an action verb or a linking verb. When the verb feel is used as an action verb, it expresses an action:

The doctor felt the patient's pulse.

As a linking verb, feel expresses an emotion or a state of being:

I feel happy.

While action verbs are modified by adverbs, linking verbs are followed by adjectives or nouns that refer to the subject. Linking verbs connect or link these adjectives or nouns (called subject complements) to the subject.

So when you say I feel badly, you actually mean that you have a poor sense of touch. Here, the adverb badly modifies the action verb feel.

When you say I feel bad, you are expressing an emotion or state of being, and you mean that you feel sorry, guilty, sad, sympathetic or sick. Here, the linking verb feel links the adjective bad to the subject I.

So, don't feel badly, feel bad.

Date Modified: 2012-03-29

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