This is such a common complaint that I’m only going to offer a single example of it, and leave it up to you whether you want to waste part of your life looking up other examples. From the BBC’s idiotic list of “Americanisms”:
16. “I’m good” for “I’m well”. That’ll do for a start.
There is nothing wrong with “I’m good”. And yet, this is the sort of grammatical myth that not merely persists, but pervades. One of my best friends in college ragged on me for it. One of my current friends (an English teacher no less) subtly corrects me for it regularly.
There are a few reasons why people might think that I’m good is incorrect. The most prominent, the one I’m often given as justification, is that good is an adjective and well an adverb. That’s all well and good, but am is a conjugated form of to be. To be is a linking verb here, which means that it takes a predicative adjective, not an adverb. We say things like I’m hungry, not I’m hungrily. An adjective is what you need here, without question.
Of course, well isn’t only an adverb; it can be an adjective as well. That leads to the next argument against I’m good: that good is an adjective, but it’s the wrong adjective. For instance:
When you ask an American: “How are you today?”, they say: “I’m good” (Meaning: I’m a good person) when they should use “I’m well” (Meaning: I’m fine or healthy or something like that).
But to get the “I’m a good person” meaning out of I’m good, you have to try to misinterpret it. Sure, saying I’m good can be interpreted as “I’m not evil”, but that’s far from the only possible meaning, and it’s hardly the most reasonable. I don’t want to be condescending, but even a non-native speaker of English is aware that good has a lot of possible meanings. Here are two from the Oxford English Dictionary:
1. Of persons, as a term of indefinite commendation.
2. Such as should be desired or approved, right, satisfactory; sound, unimpaired; not depressed or dejected.
Those senses of good, which date to 1154 and 1175, respectively*, are more likely intentions when responding to “How are you?” than an unsolicited assertion that one is a moral human being. To say that the “moral” meaning is either the only acceptable one or the most reasonable one in this context is to say that you do not have a good grasp of the English language.
So I think that that establishes why I’m good is acceptable, and really does mean “I’m fine”. But perhaps I’m well is more acceptable? Hey, maybe for you it is, and if it is, godspeed. But for me, the two forms have significantly different meanings, and in general I mean to say that I am good when I say I’m good.
I’m well means that I am healthy, which I almost always am if I’m wandering around talking to people. When people ask, “How are you?”, they’re not, in general, inquiring about your state of health but rather your state of mind. Thus I respond that I am good, in that second definition above, feeling right, satisfactory, unimpaired, and neither depressed nor dejected. I do not respond that I am well, because I think that’s pretty obvious, and if it’s not obvious I’m well, it’s likely because I am unwell.
I think that most people feel the same; when my friends tell me that they are good, they tend to follow up with something like “I got a new video game” or “I’ve been enjoying this weather”, indications not of good health but of good feelings. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t say that you’re well; you are welcome to. This is only why I don’t say I’m well.
I want to talk about two similar situations — I’m feeling good and I’m doing good — as well as whether I’m good is too vague, but I’ve gone on long enough. I’ve put together a second post discussing I’m feeling good and I’m feeling bad, and hope to finish off with one on I’m doing good in the future.
Summary: I’m good is correct, because am is a linking verb, taking an adjectival predicate, and good is that adjective. I’m good means that one is fine, in good spirits, etc. I’m well is fine too, but I find it to focus more on one’s health than general state of being.
—
*: And, of course, they’re attested through the modern day.
Motivated Grammar 
69 comments
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August 3, 2011 at 10:10 am
Stan
Of all the peevy peeves that peevers peeve about, this must be one of the most pointless.
August 3, 2011 at 10:33 am
Jonathon
When you cover “I’m doing good”, don’t forget to mention 30 Rock’s Tracy Jordan.
August 3, 2011 at 10:45 am
fornormalstepfathers
-Do you need me to move?
-No, I am good.
In this case I do not find it offensive just as in:
-How are you?
-I am good.
When people answer “(I am) good.” to my “How are you doing?” it does make me cringe a bit.
Have I mentioned that I am totally in love with your blog? :-)
August 3, 2011 at 10:58 am
Pete
I totally agree with you. Now, can you please eviscerate the phrase (popular with retail cashiers) “Can I help who’s next?”
August 3, 2011 at 1:06 pm
banshee
My pet peeve is people who don’t bother to answer at all when I ask them how they are. So in any event, I wouldn’t sneeze at “I’m good.”
August 3, 2011 at 3:15 pm
Warsaw Will
I in no way want to endorse that awful BBC article, and what people say is entirely up to them, but I have to admit that when I first heard Americans say this it did sound strange to my 60+ British ears.
I don’t dispute what you say about different meanings, but it did rather sound as though someone was either extolling their moral virtues or boasting about their skills in some area or other. These may not be the only meanings of ‘good’, but they were the first that came to my British mind. There might be a BrE / AmE difference to consider here.
I’m quite used to Americans and even Brits using it now. But it does sound a bit weird (to me) when uttered in a British accent.
August 3, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Abbie
Pete- I don’t see anything wrong with that. Would “Can I help whoever’s next?” be better?
August 3, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Kay
I agree with you wholeheartedly on the good/well issue. Perhaps it is a BrE/AmE difference, or more likely an age-related difference. I think older people are more likely to answer “How are you?” with “I’m well, thanks.”
Far be it from me to be a peevy peever. Life’s too short, and I like to talk like the cool kids as much as the next person. But I’ve noticed that Americans under 30 (ish) have a tendency to answer a question such as, “Would you like some more pasta?” or “Would you like me to turn on the light?” with “No, I’m good.” This seems to be a faddish sort of usage, instead of the more traditional (and, to my middle-aged way of thinking, polite) “No, thank you.” It’s not good.
August 3, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Samuel
I’ve never heard “I’m well” used in response to “how are you doing?” It is just “I’m good,” “I am good”, “good”, etc. This is more of a non-answer than an answer. It mainly serves as a conversation killer. Then both sides feel good at attempting conversation. Because “I am good” is so vague, there is nothing more to be said.
August 3, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Dan M.
It seem likely that the objection that “good” in an adjective has merely been misplaced. It doesn’t apply as a criticism as an answer to “How’re you?”, but it at least makes syntactic sense as a complaint for “How’re you doing?”.
Of course one problem with this complaint is that it’s perfectly valid to give answers that are not syntactically parallel to the question. You can answer “How’re you doing?” with the dissimilar declaration “I was almost hit by a bus.”, so you can just as well say “I am good.” as a dissimilar declaration that semantically answers the question.
But that leaves the question of whether you can say “I’m doing good.” (as a report of condition, not as a commentary about altruism). I think the fact that we say “I’m doing shitty.” not “I’m doing shitily.” answers that, but on the other hand, I find it wrong to say “I’m doing happy.”, so there is something else going on, too.
August 3, 2011 at 8:09 pm
elevengoalposts
This is another interesting, well-argued piece, Gabe.
Maybe you’re saying it in your explanations, but I feel that it’s not so much whether it’s appropriate to use “good” or “well” (fine, etc), but with the choice of *verb*.
When someone asks how you are, they’re asking about the state of your health, how you’re feeling, your happiness, etc.
The appropriate verb would more likely be “feel”, for example – there are many possibilities, but “I feel fine, great, happy, rundown, etc. You could employ a variety of verbs, though.
I think that the use of the verb “to be” has become the casual norm in response, which then leads to the difficulty of picking a suitable adverb or adjective to fix the problem.
August 4, 2011 at 5:53 am
dave sterling
“I’m well” seems to only be used by pretentious people seeking to separate themselves from the unwashed masses. Well, we unwashed had it right all along. Huzzah!
August 4, 2011 at 6:01 am
Stan
As a kid, I knew two brothers who answered “Well” when asked how they were. Never “I’m well”, just “Well”. It sounded more like a report on their health than on their general state of mind or mood. One of their parents was a doctor, but whether that bears upon it is anyone’s guess.
August 4, 2011 at 6:36 am
laurengundrum
Great analysis! I’ve always thought “I’m good” was incorrect, but said it anyway. In case you’re interested, there was a similar debate going on here.
August 4, 2011 at 8:00 am
Gabe
Jonathon: I’d forgotten that one! Because Tracy shows up a Harvardian, I almost don’t want to debunk him.
fornormalstepfathers: You may have mentioned it before, but I’m vain enough to keep appreciating it. :)
Pete/Abbie: I agree that “can I help who’s next?” sounded weird to me when I first encountered it upon moving to California. I’ve ended up growing sort of fond of it, like I did to the “next person on line?” request from the transplanted New Yorkers at a local pizza place. I looked it up in the OED and “who” as a nominal relative is a well-attested usage, although it seems to generally be literary. For example, Shakespeare wrote “Who steales my purse, steals trash.” I think it’s just a variant, perhaps a newly resurgent one, and as it doesn’t impede my understanding, I’m a little bit fond of it now.
Warsaw Will/Kay: That’s very interesting. I think that there is a substantial age component to the debate as well as a BrEng/AmEng difference. That’s why I wanted to make the point that for me (and my droogs) “I’m well” means pretty much strictly that “I’m healthy” and “I’m good” has its most prominent meaning as “I’m fine”. This is largely a fact of the language I am exposed to, where “good” is used in this sense so often that it’s the most prominent, and the only prominent meaning left for “well” is the “healthy” one. I have no beef with “I’m well”, even though it sounds odd to me, and I love that you similarly have no beef with “I’m good” even though it sounds strange to you.
Samuel: Yeah, but that vagueness is often what people want. Back in my more socially awkward days, I used to stop and think of how I was in response to this question, and prepare a proper response, only to find out that the asker had continued walking in that time and was now too far away to hear me. I say “How are you?” now when I don’t need a proper response, and something less idiomatic (e.g., “What’s been up with you?”) when I do.
Dan M.: You are hitting exactly the points I’m working on for the follow-up, except for the question-answer dissimilarity, which I hadn’t thought of.
elevengoalposts: I’m hoping to go into that a little bit in the follow-up post, too, but I’m glad you brought it up, because it might not fit in.
Stan: I think I knew someone like that once. It always seemed like a lightly sociopathic response, like a robot studying how to masquerade as a human, but not quite getting it right. “How are you?” “EXTERMINATE — I mean, well.”
laurengundrum: Thanks for pointing out that debate! I was going to go over there and school some people, but UGH. I couldn’t even get through the opening question before I left the page.
August 4, 2011 at 8:16 am
lydia
What’s the link between this and the similar adverb-for-adjective substitution in a sentence like “I feel badly about this”? I wonder if the well/well ambiguity contributes to the inclination to say “badly” here when you want an adjective. No one ever says, “I feel guiltily about this” or “I feel tiredly today.” But “I feel badly” is very common. (I always picture someone trying to read braille with gloves on…that would be difficult because you feel badly. See?) Of course, I would never correct a person who said it, and the meaning is perfectly clear. The English teacher in this post makes me feel a little sad[ly].
August 4, 2011 at 8:36 am
laurengundrum
Gabe: I figured that title might annoy you since it seems to imply that “I’m well” is correct! Haha. I think some of the comments/answers are worthwhile though. The top answer actually explains why “I’m good”, “I’m well”, and “I’m doing good” can all be correct in different contexts.
August 4, 2011 at 8:43 am
johnwcowan
In I am well, the last word is an adjective too: no peever asks indignantly “You are well what, pray?”
August 4, 2011 at 9:16 am
Abbie
Another thing is that “How are you”/’I’m good” is a very rote, automatic dance. Nobody actually cares how someone actually is, and nobody actually means they are good. It’s just words we spout at each other. Parsing the grammar seems silly.
I can’t say how many times I’ve had this conversation:
Me: Hello
Person: How are you?
Me: Pretty good.
Person: Not bad.
That is, I tend to not to reply “and you?”, but people quite often supply the answer as if I had.
Obviously, I’m socially awkward.
August 4, 2011 at 10:26 am
laurengundrum
lydia: That’s an interesting point. “I feel bad” is definitely more common, and by the same logic that “I’m good” is better than “I’m well,” it should be correct. It may be that people just have a tendency to confuse adjectives and adverbs, as you point out.
August 4, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Warsaw Will
Firstly, I don’t think those of us who don’t say “I’m good” necessarily say “I’m well” either. For a start, where’s the thanks. I think (in the UK at least) we tend to say “Fine, thanks” or a little more formally “Very well, thanks” without any “I’m”, and I’m beginning to wonder if it’s really that “I’m” that is the problem (for people like me) – How are you? – Good, thanks. – sounds much better to me.
Secondly, I don’t think logic has much to do with it – “Just great” or “Really great” sound just fine to me, probably because they’ve been round a bit longer. What would be nice is if we could just all agree there is no one correct answer here. Each to their own and vive la différence.
August 5, 2011 at 7:27 am
Gabe
lydia/laurengundrum: I think the confusion on “I feel bad(ly)” is also due to the fact that “feel” feels like less of a linking verb than “am”.
Abbie: I have a similar thing where sometimes people mix it up by asking “What’s up?” instead of “How’re you?”, and I respond “good” before I realize that’s not an appropriate response.
Warsaw Will: Yes to all of that.
August 5, 2011 at 10:02 am
This Week’s Language Blog Roundup | Wordnik ~ all the words
[…] Americanisms. Lynneguist posted part three of her reaction; Motivated Grammar was outraged over the outrage over “I’m good”; and even The New Yorker got in on the action with a British point of […]
August 5, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Karen L
agreed with Warsaw Will – I prefer no “I’m.” ” ‘How are you?’ ‘Good.’ ” sounds natural. ” ‘How are you?’ ‘ I’m good.’ ” sounds weird.
Posts like this are exactly why I love this blog. It’s really freeing. I used to go out of my way to say “fine” instead of “good” because I didn’t want to speak ungrammatically but I’d also avoid “well” because that sounded (and still sounds) pretentious to me. I figured neither camp would judge me for “fine.” Another one that has been freeing to me is singular they, which I now heartily embrace.
As to the automaticity of the how-are-you exchange: Someone in Switzerland (kindly) pointed out to me that it often irks German speakers that English speakers [read: me] treat the exchange so lightly. Since then, I’ve tried to at least improve my listening and watching for cues, in case someone actually wants to give or receive a fuller answer. And if I don’t actually want to know, I don’t ask first, but I do feel obliged to reciprocate “and you?” if I’ve already been asked. So, I try to get in “Hello. full stop” before they can get in “Hello, how are you?” (See that singular they? love it)
August 5, 2011 at 10:34 pm
The Ridger
I once had a Russian point out that when Russians meet in the morning they make a big deal (like the Swiss, I suppose) out of the meeting – several exchanges with emotion! But then that’s it. While Americans, he said, only say “hi, how you doing?” “Good” … but say it every time they see each other, and get offended if you walk past them in the hall without at least saying Hi. Even if you’ve said it five times already that day.
Different places, different customs. It’s all good, as my boss says :-)
August 6, 2011 at 4:52 am
Warsaw Will
@banshee and The Ridger – this one used to confuse me (British) – An American, a complete stranger, would say to me – Hi, how are you this morning?’, and after the initial surprised thought of – ‘Do I know you?’, I’m just about to answer ‘Fine thanks’, and they’re gone! So I’ve always assumed that in AmE this is more of a greeting, whereas in BrE it’s considered a question, and only used with people you know.
August 7, 2011 at 3:04 am
racheljoyhatten
Here in Germany—now, pardon if I don’t spell it absolutely correctly—but they ask, “All ist gut?” as in, “All is good?” It’s also a common reply of theirs, “all ist gut” when asked “wie gehts?” “how are you?”. So I stopped trying to force myself to say, “I’m doing well, thank you” when people inquire “How are you?” Like Warsaw Will said though, I think “How are you?” is more of a “Hello” than it is an actual inquiry. When I was a cashier, did my customers, who really had no idea who I was, truly care about my state of being, my health, my emotions? No. It’s just a polite societal more.
August 7, 2011 at 11:14 am
Trish Jennings Siltala
I grew up with “I’m fine” as the “correct” answer to that question. I don’t remember “good” being the common response until…Hmmm…maybe the mid-90’s? I’ve always thought the “I’m well” over-correction (like “I feel badly about…”) immediately pegged the perpetrator as unnecessarily self-conscious about their own grammar, probably judgemental of others’ grammar, intractibly opinionated and generally someone who would not make a good friend. Maybe I over-react.
August 9, 2011 at 9:26 am
marcus
Abbie, I think Pete was highlighting the “can” vs. “may” distinction.
August 10, 2011 at 9:21 am
malkie
@laurengundrum @lydia
I was once a helper in an English class for adults who needed to gain High School credits.
The teacher came close to throwing me out after this exchange (T=teacher; M=malkie):
T: When sympathising with someone, you can say “I feel bad about what happened.”, but not “I feel badly about what happened.”. That has no meaning. You can only feel bad, not badly.
M: If the nerves at the ends of my fingers are damaged, I may indeed say that I feel badly, and it does mean exactly what you would expect.
T: You’re confusing the students – don’t do that!
The students, btw, had no problem at all seeing the distinction.
@Samuel
I stopped asking people “how are you doing?” just after I arrived in Canada, when someone asked: “What do you mean? How am I doing what?”.
August 10, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Karen L
@malkie, re “How are you doing?”
Really? I’ve lived my whole life in Canada and “How are you doing?” seems like a perfectly normal greeting, perfectly equivalent to “How are you?”, one that I use and hear routinely. I can’t explain the “How am I doing what?” response. It’s bizarre. I’ve never encountered it. We do have some quirky English, but I don’t think that this case is characteristic of Canadian speakers.
August 13, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Baylink
I was hoping this was discussing the usage of “I’m good” as a response to “could I get you some more iced tea”, but alas, it appears not.
August 15, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Karen L
@ Baylink, that usage seems to have been a fad in my area and I’m hearing it less and less. I have been “guilty” of using it myself but if I ever hear my kids using it with adults, I’ll probably correct them to “No, thank you.” We’ve been trying to drill into their heads that the response to any yes/no “do you want” or “would you like” question is either “Yes, please” or “No, thank you.” It’s a work in progress. Not that I think “I’m good” is incorrect. I just think it’s much less polite than “No, thank you.”
August 16, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Daniel
@Karen L: How would you feel about the response “No thanks, I’m good”. I’ve heard that one quite a few times.
August 16, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Karen L
@Daniel. Me too. I hear that quite a bit and I have no problem with it but I can understand why people might, though, I secretly judge them a little for being so easily offended. What do you think?
October 9, 2011 at 4:00 pm
I’m Good and I’m Doing Good | Save the Semicolon
[…] See also: Motivated Grammar on “I’m Good” […]
October 19, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Veronica Wheatley
Actually, well can have a broad spectrum of meaning too. It can mean that a person is doing mentally, emotionally, and/or financially well.
October 19, 2011 at 6:06 pm
Caomhghín
There may be an Irish-language influence involved. “Táimsa go maith”: I’m goodly. It’s not only US-English usage but Australian as well; 19th-Century Irish-language usage has had some influence on the evolution of Australian colloquial English.
October 27, 2011 at 9:57 am
Brendan
Perhaps the larger issue here is the failure of the person asking the question completely! If they leave “feeling” or “doing” from the end of their “How are you?” sentence, it’s up to us to determine whether or not they want to know if we’re under the weather physically or in good spirits mentally. With the popularity of “good times, good times” and “it’s all good”, well, I’ll take feeling and doing good over well most any time.
January 8, 2012 at 11:00 am
deviouseditor
@Pete: Whenever a phrase and a clause “compete” to determine the case of a pronoun, the clause wins, as the “stronger” grammatical structure. The word “who” is the subject of the clause “who is next,” so it should be in the nominative case.
Source: http://grammartips.homestead.com/case.html
January 28, 2012 at 10:45 pm
Quora
Should you say “I’m well” or “I’m good” when someone asks how you are?…
“Are” is a form of the verb “to be.” It’s a linking verb and that means it takes an adjective and not an adverb. That’s why you can say things like “The dogs are fat.” You can’t really use it with adverbs and say things like “I am wildly.” I…
March 16, 2012 at 7:12 pm
andrew
I usually say no better, no worse. you can take from it what you want.
March 25, 2012 at 8:32 am
cosmicheart
Thank you!:)
September 10, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Nita
I’m old-fashioned. My objection to “I’m good” is that it is new. When I first heard it about 15 years ago, it sounded atrocious. Now I use it myself, but I wonder why “I’m fine” needed to be replaced. No Brit in me, but I understand Warsaw Will.
November 12, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Miles
As an Englishman, I ought to be fired up about this…but cannot in this particular situation – I’m more than happy with the verb to be taking the adjective (dare I mention Latin?). I do however struggle more with the phrase ‘doing good’ which to me only has the meaning of altruistic public works. I get even more worked up about the use of good as an adverb which appears to be all the more frequent on US talk shows
November 14, 2012 at 11:04 am
John Cowan
Miles, I’m sympathetic: future generations may not understand the old witticism about the missionaries who went to the South Seas to do good, and ended up doing very well. But then secondary-school students already study Shakespeare in facing-page translations, as earlier generations did with Chaucer. “Language changes. Live with it. Revel in it.” –Mr. Verb
January 25, 2013 at 6:53 am
Hari
You took a narrow definition of well and contrasted it with a wide definition of good. That was one argument. You also made the “usage makes meaning” argument, which can be made of any “mistake” repeatedly widely enough.
A similar process is on people justifying for “was” versus “were” (the conditional.) English has a very, very, large, wide, and varied, vocabulary, much larger than most people can stuff into their heads. Perhaps more can be communicated with fewer words and yes, usage makes meaning, (which is reality rather than the basis of argument based on principle) but I prefer to enjoy the wide variety, rather take another step to “me-tarzan, you-good?”
July 28, 2013 at 12:18 am
Roy Fenimore
Sounds to me like much ado about nothing. Unless it’s your doctor or a concerned friend asking, “How are you?” is a just a polite formula. Even if you’re dying of cancer, the standard answer (in the U.S.) is “Fine. How are you?” or maybe “Very well, thank you!” As a native speaker I have even answered it with “Just as fine as frog’s hair split four ways, thank you.” I’ve never heard, “I’m well,” and only rarely “I’m good.” People who use it are usually young people trying to sound hip (or African-American) and they regard it as a slangy substitute for such “I’m all right,” “I’m not upset,” “I have no complaints,” “I’m doing all right (in life),” etc. Using it to mean “I’m in good health,” sounds affectedly ‘hip.’ So says Mr. Know-It-All–so put that in your pipe and smoke it!
July 29, 2013 at 1:18 am
John Dodsworth
I’m from Yorkshire, England, where “mustn’t grumble” is a standard reply.
I understand that the older “How do you do?” doesn’t require an answer but interestingly suggests that if one did answer, an adverb would be suitable.
August 14, 2013 at 10:37 am
robin farbman.
“Well” is not an adverb if you say,”I’m well.” (“Healthy” is not an adverb either.) The problem is not the adverbially of the word, but it’s very meaning. “I’m good” sounds like a judgement, with the speaker patting themself on the back.
August 21, 2013 at 1:26 pm
Cody
I tend agree with the I’m good-sayers because when one says I am good it describes condition, or the current state of being. It isn’t intended to show the manner in which an action is performed.
In my mind the answer to the question how are you is not so much a conversation killer as the question itself.
October 30, 2013 at 4:28 am
Ben52
Absolute rubbish!!!! ‘I’m good’ implies that I am good in the sense of righteous, not in health. For example – ‘the boy is good’ means he is well behaved, not in good health. The man is good denotes that the man is a good man, not a man in good spirits or good health. The current use of ‘I’m good’ in place of ‘I’m fine’, or ‘very well’ is just another example of the ruination of the English (not American) language. Just like ‘for free’ (just free or, more correctly, free of charge) and ‘you did good’ (well) or ‘I don’t got’ (don’t have) and ‘can I get’ (may I have) – all rubbishy Americanisms!!! And while I’m at it – ‘I do’ when the correct answer should be ‘I have’ (Do you have my book, John? – Yes, I have.
November 4, 2013 at 3:19 pm
Louise Marshall
I have always viewed “I’m good” as a way of saying “I’m not criticizing you for trying to give me a refill on my drink, I just don’t want any more.” Saying “no thank you,” is, on many occasions, just too snooty.
February 1, 2014 at 8:10 pm
The Glad Game > How are you? と聞かれたら？
[…] good.”と言ってもOK!という事はわかった。ただ、他にも”I’m good outrage is nonsense” という記事があるように、”I’m good.” […]
June 6, 2014 at 2:24 am
Let’s talk about I’m good v I’m well… | dontbeafraidofwriting
[…] Read more about the case for I’m good here https://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/the-im-good-outrage-is-nonsense/ […]
August 7, 2014 at 3:24 pm
PhII RP
It is incorrect as “I´m good” means “I am a good person” plus another US expression introduced here by the media who are intent on employing Americanisms. The grammatically-correct responses “How are you?” are: Fine/I´m fine/Well/I´m fine/I´m alright. These refer to your well-being not your personality, to which “I´m good” refers. Next I suppose they will start using the US system of dates, which I have heard on television and on the radio e.g. March 31st (thirty-first) as opposed to either 31 March or March 31st.
September 24, 2014 at 3:41 pm
gojubum
I have heard plenty of Brits say, “I’m good.”
September 29, 2014 at 4:13 pm
pedro
Is good a state? I am not sure if one day you are “good” and another day you are “something else”.
How often to you hear the question: How are you doing (or going)? answered with “I an good”. Is “I am good” the correct answer to this? When you ask: How are you doing?;how are you going?; or how are you?; you are asking the same thing. Hence the response “I am good” is not and does not sound like the correct answer.
I saw this in an online dictionary which demonstrates the increasingly common misuse of good:
adverb
informal
adverb: good
1.
well.
“my mother could never cook this good”
I’m glad it says informal however I am sure any native English speaker can hear that this is incorrect. Perhaps unfortunately, considering their linguistic influence on the world, I may mean English and not American!
November 11, 2014 at 12:46 pm
Tom Jefferson
Grammar mistakes are ONLY American eh? That’s just plain moronic.
June 1, 2015 at 7:31 am
Humbled
I am good is incorrect, sorry. If you a multilingual you will understand why is wrong and I can clearly see that a lot of Americans do not get the usage of adverbs
January 29, 2016 at 4:40 am
Ulla
“I am good” did not sound correct to me. Learned the queen’s English as a student in Sweden. Found this page with the help of Google. I wanted to know why it sounds bad. I will continue saying “I am well” .
March 8, 2016 at 9:26 pm
WIlliam
How are you?
*I am great. “Great” is an adjective that describes my mood.
*I am pretty bad. “Pretty bad” is an adjective clause that describes my mood.
*I am good. “Good” is an adjective that describes my mood.
*I am well. “Well” is an adjective that describes my mood or my health. Well is NOT functioning as an adverb here!
“Am” is not being used as an action verb in these sentences. It is being used as a linking verb. Adjectives following linking verbs modify the subject of the sentence.
Remember, never answer the question “How are you?” with, “I am greatly.” An adverb doesn’t belong there.
If you are a person who avoids describing their feelings or mood as “good” because of grammar rules, you don’t actually understand English grammar rules. Yes, that means you may have been lied to your whole life, but you are still wrong.
November 7, 2016 at 4:31 pm
Carlos Aradas Balbás
Language is a matter of convention and accepted common usage rather than logic or prescriptive grammar, so I would accept the possibility that over time “I’m good” will become a standard way of answering the question “How are you?”. However, if you want my two pennies’ worth from the perspective of a non-native speaker, “I’m good” would be difficult to translate literally into any romance language (mine is Spanish) so as to be understood as an adequate answer in that communicative context, so I cannot but understand why some British people squirm when hearing it and reject it as an Americanism. I would risk the opinion that “I am good” probably has its roots in German influence on modern American usage –Wie geht’s? Gut, danke (rather than “wohl, danke”)-, without excluding older autochthonous roots, which I agree is a matter worthy of consideration.
Going back to romance languages (your neighbours and, through French, partial shapers of Englishthroughout its history, whether some like or not), in all of those I have an inkling of, the answer to the question at issue here would include the corrresponding equivalent of “well”, and never that of the adjective “good”, perhaps because the latter (in French, Italian, Spanish or Portuguese) implies a permanet condition, rather than the temporary one implied by the adverb. I wonder whether this could be part of the problem for some English speakers too: “good” being associated with a permanent state more strongly than any other of the adjectives that could be given as an answer here (fine, great, excellent). Curiously, Spanish would similarly accept with little problem “estoy fantástico” or “estoy excelente”, “estoy genial (great)”, but never “soy/estoy bueno” (although they are all adjectives), as the last expression would immediately be interpreted as “I’m a good person/I’m a beauty/a hunk”. So, without wanting to sound too much of a purist, describing the BBC’s list as idiotic sounds more like an emotional response than one that considers all the possible factors in this complex issue. To sum up, and in my humble opinion, temporary state (well) versus permanent condition (good), whether adjective, adverb, moral meaning or otherwise).
November 7, 2016 at 4:47 pm
Carlos Aradas Balbás
And then there is the spiny issue of cultural and linguistic colonialism from accross the Atlantic affecting as all (language as a transmitter of culture and attitude) which you didn’t even mention, but don’t worry, “I’m doing good, dude”.
November 22, 2016 at 12:15 pm
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November 28, 2021 at 5:30 am
Jennifer
I think I am fine is better to use. I was brought up using I’m fine . I think I’m good is sn American word
June 24, 2022 at 5:05 am
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November 24, 2022 at 6:45 am
Peter
“I’m’ good” is an Americanism which has its place in the English speaking world – that place is America, which should never be regarded as a reliable source of the English language.
Americans, no matter how talented, or how lengthy their studies of English may be, should doff their caps to the English people who lent the settlers their language to share with (inter alia) their Dutch, Swedish and German fellow migrants, only to see it corrupted beyond belief, before being shipped back whence it came and adopted by teenagers or members of the illiterati. The most extreme example of this is the misuse of the word awesome by linguistically challenged Americans to describe anything.
I have to confess that I have used ‘one or two’ Americanisms in the above statement. Not everything American is bad – just most of it!
November 30, 2022 at 7:45 pm
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