Calling all grammar geeks... is "I like coffee well" correct?

[rose]

Someone I know used the word 'well' like this recently and it's been bothering me since. It sounds so wrong but I think that it might actually be technically correct. Nothing in my R&S Eng 5 book, which is as far as my grammar knowledge extends, convinces me that it's wrong. What do you all think?

Edited March 24, 2017 by Rose M

[Another Lynn]

Imho - well is an adverb modifying the verb.  I think it is an awkward conversation to describe "how" you like something (i.e. we don't normally say we're good at liking things, kwim?  I might say I swim well.  I don't say I like well).  If the person is trying to say how much or to what degree he/she likes coffee, I don't think well is the right kind of adverb for that.  

[Guest]

Yes, it's correct, and it sounds correct to me. I often have said that I like something "well enough", so it fits with that structure.

[Bluegoat]

It sounds odd to me, too, like it is missing an extra verb.

 

I would tend to say "I like coffee well-made"  or "I like coffee often."  As it is, I feel unsure of what it means.  Does she like it a lot?  Or something else?

 

And I would find "I well like coffee" sounded correct but old-fashioned.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I like coffee very much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KrissiK]

I like coffee, too. I like it often. I like it with sweetener and half-and-half. I'm trying to think....I'm not a grammar guru, but something about the adverb coming after the direct object....well, maybe not because "I threw the ball well" does make sense and there's a direct object there. Perhaps it has to do with the type of verb "like" is. It can not be evaluated or compared. "Well" is a form of judgement. "She plays piano well." "He runs well." How can you judge the way someone likes something? The sentence does sound awkward.

Edited March 24, 2017 by KrissiK

[frogger]

I think Lynn is on to something. So she is good at liking coffee? How many people are bad at liking coffee? How do you be bad at liking something?

[Jean in Newcastle]

You like coffee very much because you are actually telling how much you like the coffee.  You are not (in most cases) actually evaluating the quality of of your liking. 

[forty-two]

You like coffee very much because you are actually telling how much you like the coffee. You are not (in most cases) actually evaluating the quality of of your liking.

I suppose that's why "I like coffee well enough" works => "well enough" *is* evaluating the quality of my liking, in a way that makes sense.

[Kiara.I]

It used to be a reasonably common form. I can't analyze it grammatically (yet) as my formal grammar was woefully lacking and I'm learning it along with the children. But it's a form that I've read repeatedly in older books.

 

We still use the form, actually. People can be "well-liked." They are liked well.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[RootAnn]

Well, I like coffee.

 

:lol:

 

It sounds weird to me, like there needs to be something after it. "I like coffee well-heated." or the aforementioned, "I like coffee well enough."

 

But, I'm definitely not a grammar guru. As I tell my children, you'd want my mother or sister for that.  :laugh:

[Matryoshka]

I think to be clear, just say you really like coffee, if what you're intending to say is that you have an even more positive feeling about coffee than "I like coffee" alone suggests.  

 

Otherwise, it does seem to be ambiguous and awkward... I mean, what's the inverse?  I like coffee badly?

[Farrar]

I don't know how you can be good at liking something, so I think it's grammatically correct but completely bizarre as something to say.

 

I think what she wants is an amplifier. And well is not an amplifier.

[Guest]

Examples:

 

"I like well that remark of Cicero's..."

https://books.google.com/books?id=jNM7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA524&lpg=PA524&dq=%22i+like+well%22+grammatically+correct&source=bl&ots=2eJY8OQIBa&sig=a2xEofvtWSrDsE30WSP1P7ZMT3E&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY37nj5O_SAhUE5GMKHaqsBHQQ6AEIHjAE#v=onepage&q=%22i%20like%20well%22%20grammatically%20correct&f=false

 

"I like well thy asking of such things..."

https://books.google.com/books?id=GAlhAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=%22i+like+well%22+grammatically+correct&source=bl&ots=hAfmDoh_Mx&sig=qYXgaLJI8ZV7KBTLAdZ_z8ZcSq4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY37nj5O_SAhUE5GMKHaqsBHQQ6AEIKDAH#v=onepage&q=%22i%20like%20well%22%20grammatically%20correct&f=false

 

So yes, you can like something well. It's not in common usage today, but it is grammatically correct.

Edited March 24, 2017 by Kinsa

[wintermom]

It sounds very awkward. I'm waiting for another word at the end to make it something like, "I like coffee well prepared." Or "I like coffee well sugared."  

[wintermom]

If you said, "I swim well," wouldn't that mean that you are skilled at swimming? If you say, "I like coffee well," then you'd be skilled at liking coffee. Not much of a skill to like coffee, but some people need those little successes in life. ;)

Edited March 24, 2017 by wintermom

[Bluegoat]

Examples:

 

"I like well that remark of Cicero's..."

https://books.google.com/books?id=jNM7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA524&lpg=PA524&dq=%22i+like+well%22+grammatically+correct&source=bl&ots=2eJY8OQIBa&sig=a2xEofvtWSrDsE30WSP1P7ZMT3E&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY37nj5O_SAhUE5GMKHaqsBHQQ6AEIHjAE#v=onepage&q=%22i%20like%20well%22%20grammatically%20correct&f=false

 

"I like well thy asking of such things..."

https://books.google.com/books?id=GAlhAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=%22i+like+well%22+grammatically+correct&source=bl&ots=hAfmDoh_Mx&sig=qYXgaLJI8ZV7KBTLAdZ_z8ZcSq4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjY37nj5O_SAhUE5GMKHaqsBHQQ6AEIKDAH#v=onepage&q=%22i%20like%20well%22%20grammatically%20correct&f=false

 

So yes, you can like something well. It's not in common usage today, but it is grammatically correct.

 

All of these have a different word order, though.  "I well-like coffee" sounds a lot better to me.mean se is good at liking coffee.

[Tanaqui]

It's certainly not correct in my idiolect.

 

And I hate coffee!

[CadenceSophia]

It's certainly not correct in my idiolect.

 

And I hate coffee!

 

You nailed it. Idiolect and sociolect are the the issues here. Grammar is assembled after the language, not the other way around.

 It is possible "to like something well" is common in a sociolect that I am not familar with but I don't find it strikingly bizarre either way.

[Jean in Newcastle]

If someone said "I like coffee well", I would think that they were not a native speaker of American English. 

[bwdiaz]

I've read this a lot in older books, enough for it to sound correct, however in modern vernacular I have heard something like, "I like coffee fine."

Edited March 24, 2017 by bwdiaz

[luuknam]

I think Lynn is on to something. So she is good at liking coffee? How many people are bad at liking coffee? How do you be bad at liking something?

 

 

I am bad at liking coffee (i.e. I don't like coffee). That last sentence sounds really odd to me though, but now I don't know if it's incorrect or not? I'm guessing it's not actually wrong but "How can you be bad at liking something?" or "How do you suck at liking something?" would sound much more natural?