If I am asking my child to close the door completely, should I say, "Close the door good." or "Close the door well."
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What’s wrong with completely? It’s far more idiomatic than good or even well.– Paul TanenbaumCommented Aug 26, 2023 at 1:30
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Question probably more suited to the English Language Learners forum.– Kate BuntingCommented Aug 26, 2023 at 8:33
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1@PaulTanenbaum If the door only stays closed when you take extra care, closing it completely may not be enough. You might need to close it properly.– BenCommented Aug 26, 2023 at 12:02
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1Just as Kate Bunting said, this belongs to ELL.– DiviznaCommented Aug 28, 2023 at 7:10
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4 Answers
The sentence is imperative, a command statement, not an interogavtive sentence that asks a question. You are not asking for the door to be closed, you are giving an order, a command, to close the door. Well or good are both acceptable within the sentence, but well is the correct choice in standard usage of English.
Close is an action verb. Well is an adverb describing how the closing of the door should be done, therefore well is the correct choice for describing how the door is to be closed. Using good in the sentence is very commonly spoken in colloquial U.S. English. The sentence using good connotes, or implies, that a full good closure of the door is desired. Good is an adjective and is the correct standard usage choice with the noun closure. The imperative sentence, "Close the door good," is like saying "Close the door and make sure there is a good closure." Using good is implying that a full, tight, closure of the door is desired. This tends to make the choice of the adjective good acceptable and understood. If in doubt, words shut (intransitive verb) or tight (adjective) can be used as substitutes for good or well in the sentence.
Normally one would say,
Shut the door.
This conveys that it needs to be shut
The correct way to say it is "close the door well." The reason why is because "good" is an adjective, used to describe nouns, while "well" is an adverb, used to describe actions. Closing the door is an action, so you would use "well" to describe it. Now, if you were saying "You look ____ today," you would use "good," because you're describing a person/noun.
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"You look well today" is valid, but more speaks to your health (The opposite would be "You look ill/sick today" while "You look good today" is more about looking aesthetically pleasing (As opposed "you look bad today"). Further, you can both "do good" and "do well" whereas the former means "Do something morally good" while the latter is "do something successfully."– hszmvCommented Aug 30, 2023 at 17:53
A variant of @Mary’s answer:
Shut the door securely.
