When the question "How are you" is answered with "I am fine/well" I consider both 'fine" and "well" as adverbs.
In "all is (what like?) well that ends (how?) well" I see (feel) the first "well" as an adjective and the other as an adverb.
Will you have the patience to look at these arguments and help me understand the error of my ways?
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Mr. Steliga,
(1) First, thank you for helping me understand the errors of
my ways!
(2) You consider "fine" and "well" as adverbs in "I am ____." Well, that is
very interesting. As I said, I think most (all?) teachers would consider them to
be adjectives. For example, in some languages people just say "I fine." They
do not need a so-called linking verb. Hopefully, a grammar expert will give us
his/her opinion on your opinion.
(a) Even in "I am doing well," I think that "well" is an adjective, for "doing" in that
sentence, I think, is just another word for "feeling." I think it is very different from
"I am doing the work well." The "well" in that sentence is surely an adverb, telling
how I am doing the work.
(b) Here is an absurd example: I broke all my fingers last year. But now my fingers
are all healed. So I am able to feel things well. ("Well" is an adverb that tells you how
I feel things with my fingers.) Surely, that is very different from "I am feeling/am well."
(3) In "All is
well that ends
well," I agree with you: the first "well" is an adjectiive, and
the second one is an adverb.
Tom: How did it end?
Mona: It ended well/ happily/ sadly/ tragically/ badly.
(But it would not surprise me if someone argued for analyzing the second "well" as an adjective.)
Let's see what other posters have to say.