More on Larry's avoidance of the King's English

In an aforementioned interview of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Larry King asked of Mr. Starr: "When you are playing (the drums), do you know how good they're singing?" King was referring to Starr's fellow Beatles.

Good is an adjective meaning excellent, pleasant, in fine condition, having admirable moral values. When it is used, it must be referring to a noun in the sentence. Larry has "good" referring to the verb phrase "...they're singing?"

Mr. King meant to say: "Do you know how well they're singing?" Well meaning done excellently, or even done in a good manner.

A note: well may also act as an adjective meaning: healthy, in a good state, satisfying, making it confusingly like good. Thus, you must watch your syntax, where the words are placed in the sentence. Not knowing your grammatical "geography" can get you lost.

Oh well! Speaking good English is not always so easy, even when you've been at it for some time.

More on "Well" and "Good"

The adverb is the workhorse of all the parts of speech, except perhaps the verb itself, without which no sentence is possible. Pointing out the several varieties of adverbs with examples of each will help to explain their special duties.: adverb of direction: above, back, forward, backward; adverb of manner (which includes some the troublesome "well" which may also be used as an adjective): rapidly, justly, beautifully, arm in arm, hand in hand, however, well; adverb of negation: no, not, never, neither, nor; adverb of number: secondly, thirdly, fifteenth, etc.; adverb of place or location: about, anywhere, here, there, whereabouts, upon, in back, in front, here and there; and adverb of time: immediately, instantly, lately, since, yesterday, often, once... (Harper's English Grammar... John B. Opdycke).

Back to "Well": John David Booty played well. Adverb. Rudy Carpenter was not a well person after his game opposing USC. Adjective.

Rudy Carpenter was hit good during the game by SC's defensive linemen. Wrong! Carpenter was hit well. An adverb of manner does the job in this case: "How was Carpenter affected by USC's defensive line? He was hit well. The adverb "well" modifies the verb "hit."

What about the following expression: "That is well and good." Both words serve as adjectives, predicate adjectives.

If you understand all this, then we may say, "It is good (adjective) that it ends well (adverb) for you."

"Hitting Good" Not the Same as "It Hurts So Bad"

Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State University's vaunted quarterback, was sacked six times and suffered a bloodied lip in his football team's defeat by the University of Southern California Trojans in Tempe, Arizona. "They came to hit tonight, that is the one thing they do...they hit me, they hit me good."

Rudy used an adjective instead of an adverb. How did the Trojan defensive linemen hit Rudy? They hit him thoroughly, they hit him well, by a big margin. Thus, Rudy should have put it: "They hit me well."

well, adverb: in a good manner or style, rightly, thoroughly; by a favorable margin. (Oxford Mini Dictionary)

Note: well can be an adjective when it means: well-equipped; or a noun when it means in good health, or, happiness and prosperity.

good, adjective: having the right qualities, beneficial, efficient. (Oxford Mini Dictionary)

Also note: good and well use the same forms when used to make comparisons between two things, or among three or more things. See below:

positive comparative superlative
good better best

positive comparative superlative
well better best