What are the differences between the following responses to the question "how are you?" [duplicate]
- I am good.
- I am well.
- I feel good.
- I feel well.
- I am feeling well.
- I am feeling good.
- I am doing good.
- I am doing well.
A former English teacher told me #1 is improper English and to use #2. Is this true and why so?
I Google searched this issue and found this article. The author clames both I am good and I am well are proper English, though I don't follow the argument.
The nitpickers will tell you that "well" is an adverb (and therefore modifies verbs) and that "good" is an adjective (and therefore modifies nouns), but the situation isn't that simple.
To me this statement is empty. So what if "well" is an adverb and "good" is an adjective? What grammar rule is being contradicted if this were true?
I have heard the argument that #5 and #6 are referring to the capacity to experience the sensation of touch. What I don't understand is how #3 and #4 can't be interpreted in the same way?
Does it make a difference if the asked question is "how have you been?" versus "how are you?"?
Solution 1:
The rule you would be breaking is using the correct grammatical modifier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_modifier
In the statement:
"I am good."
'good' plays the role of adjective and and an adjective modifies a noun. In the statement above, there is no noun being modified by 'good'. A grammatically correct statement would be:
"I am well." as 'well' is an adverb which is modifying the verb of 'am' (first person, singular, present tenses of 'to be') .
Statements such as:
"I am feeling good." are also incorrect as 'feeling' is a verb.
The correct form while maintaining the adjective 'good' would be:
"I am feeling good feelings." Redundant at best, so we use an adverb to modify the verb 'feeling' instead, to be proper:
"I am feeling well."
For your question:
Does it make a difference if the asked question is "how have you been?" versus "how are you?"?
The answer is yes.
How have you been?
This question is referring to the past, 'been' being the past tense of 'be'.
How are you?
This question is referring to the present, 'are' being the present tense of 'be'.