Adjective vs Adverb

Here’s a good example of an adjective-adverb combination that people often get wrong:

Our ancestors probably didn’t smell good, but did they smell well? 

https://newatlas.com/biology/neanderthal-denisovan-odor-receptors-smell-sensitivity/

• “Good” is an adjective; it refers to nouns.
• “Well” is an adverb; it refers to verbs.

Do you know the exception? (Well is an adjective referring to illness, as in “I don’t feel well.”)

Here’s the picture that goes with the article:

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Unlike many languages, adjectives in English say almost nothing about the words they modify. Not gender, and not number. Adjectives don’t say whether the word they refer to is plural, so we don’t have a plural form for adjectives. Here’s an incorrect sentence from an astronomy article:

Massive meteoroid strike on Mars creates 500-feet wide crater, unearths boulder-sized blocks of water ice.

https://interestingengineering.com/science/meteoroid-strike-mars-water-ice

So it’s a “500-foot wide crater.” Adjectives stay singular. Harrumpf.

Here’s a picture:

First the comic. Can you explain the difference?

“Well” is an adverb. It describes his ability to detect odors.

“Good” is an adjective. It describes his body odor.

Did you get the answer correct?

Here’s the comic. Panel 1:

Using adjectives to modify verbs is common, so I didn’t notice this until a commenter pointed it out. She should have said “…heal more slowly.” After all, she teaches English.

Um, same mistake in panel 3.

I don’t recall mentioning this grade-school point of grammar before. The difference between “well” and “good.”

• Well—an adverb. Goes with verbs. Well done!
• Good—an adjective. Goes with nouns. Good lesson!
• Yes, both words can be nouns, but that’s a lesson for another day.

Okay, class, here’s a test. Did he get it correct or not? Last panel.