Only one of these is correct. Which one?

Here's another one that frequently trips people up. Most verbs are action verbs, which are modified by adverbs (e.g. "I run quickly"). Thus, the temptation to use adverbs like "well" and "badly" in these examples: since "am," "smell," and "feel" are verbs, it seems they should go with an adverb too. However, these are linking verbs, which are modified by adjectives, not adverbs. Unlike an action verb, a linking verb describes an emotional or mental state. "To be", like "to appear" and "to seem", is a linking verb, so "I am good" is the correct response. "Sensing" verbs (e.g., to smell, to feel, to taste) can act as either type of verb, depending on the context. If you you're not trying to say that your friend is bad at smelling or that you're bad at feeling, use the adjective "bad" (e.g., "He smells bad", "I feel bad"). Answer D is correct: even though "to act" is often an action verb (e.g., "I acted in the play"), here it is used to indicate how the friend seems or appears, so we treat it as a linking verb that takes the adjective "strange" and not the adverb "strangely".

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