What's correct:
"I feel bad" or "I feel badly".
"I feel good" or "I feel well".
I've been saying for entire my life "I feel bad / good", but I heard several times when people said "I feel badly / well". (Especially I heard it in sentences like "I feel badly for them")
What's the difference between them?
Thanks.
This an area that confuses many learners (and some NES). Verbs associated with the 5 senses can be linking verbs in some uses. When they are linking verbs, we use an adjective after them (not an adverb) because the adjective is a predicate adjective that describes the subject. In these cases, the verb can be replaced by a form of the word "to be".
I feel hopeful (not hopefully) = I am hopeful.
The roast smelled awful (not awfully) = The roast was awful.
John's lasagna looked disgusting (not disgustingly) = John's lasagna was disgusting.
The new piano sounds terrible (not terribly) = The new piano is terrible.
The fruit salad tasted bad (not badly) = The fruit salad was bad.
An example that I often use is "My dog smells bad" (He has a bad odor.) and "My dog smells badly" (He can't hunt because his nose doesn't work well.). Although the second sentence would not actually be used, it illustrates the point.
You will hear people say "I feel badly". It is incorrect for the reasons given above. That would mean that there was something wrong with the sense of touch. But I suspect it will not go away.
The other problem is the confusion with "good" and "well". The word "good" is an adjective, although you will run across it used informally as an adverb. (My mother never cooked this good.) The word "well" can be an adjective or an adverb. When it is used as an adjective, it usually means not ill or in good and proper order.
This is why we can use "I feel good" (adjective - general positive feeling) and "I feel well" (adjective - not ill).
