"Friends don't let friends drive drunk."

I couldn't agree more with the meaning of that slogan. But what about its grammar?

Purists would argue that people don't drive "drunk"; rather, they say, people "drive drunkenly" or they "drive in a condition of drunkenness."

But more pragmatic grammarians argue that the adjective "drunk" refers not to the way in which people drive, but to their condition when they do so. They argue that the sentence really means, "Friends don't let friends drive [when they are] drunk."

Unfortunately, that sentence, with its extra words and ambiguous pronoun, doesn't make a snappy slogan. So here's a case where grammatical rules can be stretched to create a maxim with mojo.

This raises a larger question: When is it acceptable to use adjectives after action verbs? Most of us know that certain "state-of-being" verbs, such as "appear," "smell," "seem," "become," "taste" and "look" can be followed by adjectives. Thus, cake can "taste good," water can "smell funny" and people can "look happy."

But what happens when we use action verbs, such as "drive," "slice," "sweep," "run," "fall" and "stand"? In such cases, rather than memorizing hard and fast rules, we should choose an adverb or adjective based on the meaning of the sentence.

If the meaning focuses on the way the action was performed ("the leaf fell silently to the ground"), then the adverb is the right choice. But if the sentence focuses on the result of the action ("the crowd fell silent"), then the adjective is the right choice.

Thus, we say, "Meryl Streep acts naturally," but "interviewees should act natural." "The grass grows quickly," but "the air grows still." "The monster looms slyly" but "the problem looms large."

With such action verbs, we're often prone to use adverbs when we should use adjectives. Would you, for instance, select an adverb or adjective in each sentence?:

1. Joan sliced the meat thin/thinly. 2. The day dawned clear/clearly. 3. Support for the bill holds strong/strongly. 4. Tom swept the floor clean/cleanly.

The first three sentences describe a noun, not the way in which an action was performed, so the adjective is the right choice. The last sentence could mean either that the floor is clean, or that Tom swept in a clean way, so either "clean" or "cleanly" could be correct.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to [email protected] or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.