Grammar Nerd and Pet Peeves

By: Sydnee Bagovich

Continuing down the path of professional communication, in this article I want to speak of words that are used incorrectly, and that could really convey a bad message. Let’s look at Eager vs. Anxious.

If you recognize that the root of the word Anxious is Anxiety, you might reconsider using it to mean eager! I hear this so often in daily communication…I’m so anxious to get started… Really? Are you excited about it, or is this making you nauseous?

Eager means looking forward to, anticipating something. Anxious means nervous, worried. Be careful to choose the right word, or your colleagues or clients could get the wrong idea!

Here’s another one that I hear a lot. Bad vs. Badly. Ah, this one is fun! Do you feel bad about something, or do you feel badly? A worthy discussion for sure! Bad is an adjective that modifies a noun. I had a bad day…what a bad example… Badly is an adverb that modifies a verb or an adjective. A badly written article, drove badly… So, what is the answer to the question about how you feel? In this thought, feel is used as a linking verb. (You might remember those from school…be, being, been, am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had, shall, will, should, would, can, could, do, did, does, might, must, may.) It is joining I with a state of being; it is not behaving as an action verb. There is no action that is being done badly. I feel bad. Here is a little trick that I learned for how to remember this: We feel bad when we perform badly. Badly describes action; bad demonstrates a state of being.

Sydnee Bagovich provides professional proofreading services for your business: websites, brochures, presentations… You write it. She makes it right. You can reach her at grammar.nerd@yahoo.com.