Question

[1] On her way home from practice, Rebekka found a gold man’s watch. [2] She wasn’t sure what to do. [3] There was no name engraved on the back. [4] Looking at the gold links on the band, the watch seemed to Rebekka to be expensive. [5] She felt badly that someone had lost such a nice watch.

What is the best revision of the troublesome modifier in sentence 5?

Answer 1

The best revision of the modifier in sentence 5 is to use bad instead of badly.

Step-by-step explanation:

The adjective bad should be used instead of the adverb badly because feel is a copulative verb. A copulative verb shows no action, it links the subject to an adjective or to another noun. All the verbs denoting the five senses are linking verbs: taste, look, sound, feel, and smell. Therefore, the revised version of the sentence would be as follows: She felt bad that someone had lost such a nice watch.

Answer 2

The best revision of the modifier "badly" in the sentence 5 is "bad" : She felt bad that someone had lost such a nice watch. The word badly is an adverb, the word that modifies other words and verbs: badly made furniture ; she was treated very badly. In this sentence (modified), the word bad is an adjective that follows a linking verb "felt."