Learn English – Can ‘Well’ be used to mean “very” or “really”. Can it be an adjective

grammarword-usage

My in-laws are from the Caribbean, and they use phrases such as:
"The soup is well good."
"She's a well good woman."

By 'well', they mean 'very', 'really', or even 'extremely'. At least that is my interpretation from context. It usually seems to be used in a positive sense. That is, I have not heard anyone say, "He's a well bad man" but perhaps they are just positive people!

Are these sentences grammatically correct? For those tempted to just blurt out, "No, they sound wrong", please consider the following sentences which I hear around my home town (San Diego) all the time.

"Your shot was well long of the hole."
"He fell well short of his goals."
"She's a well fed woman."

What part of speech is "well" in the previous five sentences? I think in the first one at least it's an adjective modifying the noun "good". Usually, 'well' is an adverb as in:
"He did well on the test".

Thanks,
Dave

Best Answer

Thr Jamaican use of "well" (meaning very), is starting to be used by lots more young British, (mostly Londoners). But don't use the expression if you don't want to be ridiculed like the adults in the TV series, Absolutely Fabulous. You'd need to be young, British or Caribbean, extremely cool and know more Rastafarian/London street-talk, and use the right accent before you speak like this:

In sahf London, you may well hear someone say: "She's well fit."

This would not refer to her state of health.

from http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbradio4/html/NF2766781?thread=6898274

[FWIW, "fit" means attractive, sexy]

OTOH,

"Your shot was well long of the hole." "He fell well short of his goals." "She's a well fed woman."

are all used in Standard English.

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