bad vs badly

[Winwin2011]

1. I don’t like milk. It smells bad. ( (correct)
2. I don’t like milk. It smells badly. (incorrect)

Some verbs are used to join an adjective or noun complement to a subject. These verbs can be called ‘link verb’. Common examples: be, seem, appear, look, sound, smell, taste, feel, become, get. (Michael Swan)

"Smell" is a link verb, therefore it should join an adjective. Am I correct?

Thanks..

 

[BobK]

I don't really see why you have to bring linking verbs into it (but I'm not the best teacher to ask about linking verbs). I think you're right, but wait for another teacher to confirm this. You are certainly right that 'He smells badly' is wrong - whereas 'He spells badly' would be right.

This recalls the music hall joke:

My dog's got no nose./How does he smell?/Terrible. [bou-boum, tish]

b

 

[Winwin2011]

I don't really see why you have to bring linking verbs into it (but I'm not the best teacher to ask about linking verbs). I think you're right, but wait for another teacher to confirm this. You are certainly right that 'He smells badly' is wrong - whereas 'He spells badly' would be right.

This recalls the music hall joke:

My dog's got no nose./How does he smell?/Terrible. [bou-boum, tish]

b

Thanks, BobK.

I think ‘smell bad’ refers to the quality of smell, and to the food. ‘Smell badly’ is an adverb, it refers to the ability of smelling. Am I correct?

If a person is incapable of smelling anything, is it grammatically correct to say "He smells badly"? Can link verbs such as 'smell' join adjectives and adverbs?

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

I think ‘smell bad’ refers to the quality of smell, and to the food. ‘Smell badly’ is an adverb, it refers to the ability of smelling. Am I correct?

Yes, you are correct. Check out this article by Mignon Fogarty. Here's an excerpt from her article:

If you want to describe your state, then “smell” is a linking verb. You could write “That smells bad.” Notice again how you can replace the linking verb with “is” and the sentence still works. “That smells bad” becomes “That is bad.”
But if you want to describe the action of smelling, “smell” is an action verb. Maybe you have an old dog who can't smell anymore and doesn't find treats you hide for him. You could explain to a friend by saying “He smells badly.” Notice how that sentence doesn't work if you replace “smells” with “is.” You get “He is badly,” which doesn't make sense, so it confirms that you aren't dealing with a linking verb, so the adverb “badly” is the right choice.

 

[Winwin2011]

Yes, you are correct. Check out this article by Mignon Fogarty. Here's an excerpt from her article:

Thanks, Chicken Sandwich.

If we want to describe our state, then “smell” is a linking verb, therefore it joins an adjective. I think it is diffuclt to explain it to children aged 8-9. How do we explain to the children why "It smells bad" is correct"?

 

[Winwin2011]

duplicated

 

[Tdol]

Could you mime it with noses and armpits?

 

[BobK]

Thanks, BobK.

I think ‘smell bad’ refers to the quality of smell, and to the food. ‘Smell badly’ is an adverb, it refers to the ability of smelling. Am I correct? Yes, BUT...

If a person is incapable of smelling anything, is it grammatically correct to say "He smells badly"? Can link verbs such as 'smell' join adjectives and adverbs?

It would be correct, but very oddly expressed. Users normally use a noun: 'His sense of smell is very weak', or something like that.

b