"to feel"

[mary elliott]

Why is it grammatically correct to say "Ifeel bad" rather than "I feel badly"?

[Philly]

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Because feel is a linking verb.
http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/copula-verb.html
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[Humble]

Hello, Mary,
If you say feel badly (though it's a weird collocation) it will change the meaning of feel to explore by touching, eg
The doctor felt my pulse.
He felt for a knife in his pocket.
Regards

[Philly]

Hi Humble
.
Just to clarify things a bit (or maybe muddle things further... ):
.
Probably most native speakers will understand (and use!) "I feel bad" and "I feel badly" to mean exactly the same thing.
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[englishstudent]

Hello, Mary,
If you say feel badly (though it's a weird collocation) it will change the meaning of feel to explore by touching, eg
The doctor felt my pulse.
He felt for a knife in his pocket.
Regards

This reminds me of a bumper sticker which read:

I feel good. Can I feel you?

It took me a few seconds to understand it.

[mykwyner]

There are several English verbs (mostly dealing with the senses) that function as either linking verbs or action verbs depending on the context.

Some of the most common are: look, feel, smell, appear, and sound.

You can look in the mirror and decide that you look good.
You can feel great when you feel that diploma in your hands.
If my dog smells a skunk and chases it, he'll smell bad for a week.
When my mother appeared in the doorway suddenly, she appeared angry.

You can tell if the verb is a linking verb by substituting a form of "to be" in place of the verb and see if the sentence still makes sense.

...you [look] are good.
...you can [feel] be great...
...he'll [smell] be bad for...
...she [appeared] was angry.

If you apply this same test to the action verbs, the sentences won't make sense. You can't be in the mirror, or be that diploma.

[Coffa]

Hi Humble
.
Just to clarify things a bit (or maybe muddle things further... ):
.
Probably most native speakers will understand (and use!) "I feel bad" and "I feel badly" to mean exactly the same thing.
.

There is a further confusion here:

1) "I feel for you" - a la Chaka Khan, " - I think I love you..."

'Feel' isn't a copula here, so it can take the adverb 'badly', as in "I feel for you badly".

[mykwyner]

I hear a lot of African-Americans say "do you feel me?" as a more in-depth check-phrase than "you know?" I really can't classify that as a copula either. It is purely idiomatic.

Sticking with the musical theme, when Bob Dylan asks, "How does it feel?" and James Brown says, "I feel good," those are copulas.