Good or well

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bridge78

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If you are good at a language, would you say:

-I master the language good / well?
-My control of the language is good / well?
-My (the langage) is good / well?

What are the options for all of the three above?
Also, is it to be good AT or good IN a language?
 

Matthew Wai

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'To master English well', 'be proficient in English', 'my English is good'.

Not a teacher.
 

Raymott

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You can't say, "I master the language well".
You can say "I've mastered the language well; I mastered the language well; I'm mastering the language well; I will master the language well; I had mastered the language well; I will have mastered the language well." Probably others.
 

Matthew Wai

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How about 'I can master the language well'?

Not a teacher.
 

Raymott

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That's an empty claim. It's grammatical, but I can't see much use for it. What are you intending it to mean?
I think if you mean "I will be able to learn the language easily", then that's a much better way of saying it. This 'mastering' makes it difficult to give realistic examples.
 
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Roman55

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I am not a teacher.

The answer to bridge78's original question is that good is an adjective and well is an adverb.

Therefore 'well' is used with verbs and 'good' is used with nouns.

My control is good. My Dutch is good. My mastery of XXX is good.
I learnt XXX well. I mastered it well.

The problem with, 'I master the language well' is not grammatical but logical.
 

Matthew Wai

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