People just love to correct you on this one, don't they?
- Badly is an adverb, which means you can use it to describe adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs.
- Bad is an adjective, which means you can use it to describe nouns.
Oh, except… bad can also be used to describe verbs. Which one you use, bad or badly, will depend on the nature of the verb in the sentence.
Let's break it down:
- Action verbs describe actions. They take the adverb badly.
- Linking verbs describe a person's feelings or state of being. They take the adjective bad.