When someone asks, “How are you?” should you say you are good? Or that you are well?
Today let's look at the difference between these two words, good vs. well, to better understand when and how to use each correctly.
Good vs. Well
Quick visualization exercise: Think back to a time when you did something fantastic. Maybe you won a sixth-grade spelling bee; maybe you were part of a national-championship rugby team; or perhaps you were part of a group that set the world record for largest group “Thriller” dance.
Whatever your achievement was, I'm sure someone told you that you were fantastic. They showered you with all kinds of praise telling you that you did good.
Right?
Wrong.
You did well.
When Someone Asks How You Are, It's Okay To Say “Good”
First and foremost, let me give you permission to respond to “how are you” with “good.” Go ahead.
Replying “good” is grammatically correct if you're not directly referring to your health.
Responding with “well” means that you aren't sick. “Good,” on the other hand, suggests you're in good cheer.
When “Good” Is Not Good
However, using “good” in conjunction with an action verb is wrong. Always.
Why?
“Good” is an adjective. Adjectives modify (or give more information about) nouns and pronouns. So we use “good” when describing nouns (“Good puppy!”).
You did not write good, play good, or dance good. You did all those things well.
You can be good. You can do good, but only in the sense that you are doing charitable acts.
But you can't do good at math. You do well at math.
Good vs. Well: They Are Not Interchangeable
While it's okay to use good when someone asks how you are, that doesn't mean good and well are interchangeable.
- “Good” is an adjective used to describe nouns (like your soccer skills or your emotional state)
- “Well” is both an adverb used to describe verbs (like how your soccer game went) and an adjective used to describe nouns (especially your health)
Now, may you never confuse the two again!
Need more grammar help? Once you master good vs. well in the practice below, check out my favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates “good” reports to help me write “well”: ProWritingAid. Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 250 percent off: WritePractice20
PRACTICE
Write a scene between little Suzy and her mother right after Suzy did something fantastic (won the spelling bee, dominated at the national rugby tournament, or played a great zombie in the “Thriller” flash mob, perhaps?).
Particularly focus on the dialogue between Suzy and her mother about how good Suzy's performance was, how well she spelled/tackled/”thrilled.” Make sure you use “good” and “well” correctly.
Write for fifteen minutes.
Do good…
Um… I mean well.
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Wednesdays are cooking lesson days at the Long house. Today, Jenny teaches her nieces the proper way to make an omelette.
Raegan cracked the eggs, just like Jenny told her to — against the cutting board and not the bowl, with a swift twist of her wrist — which resulted in a single, long crack. No bits of shell to pick out of the bowl this time.
“Well done!” said Jenny.
Reece beat the eggs, wielding the whisk rather well. Jenny, surprised by the strength of her second grader coached to keep at it.
“Beat them well, until the yolks and whites are fully incorporated, ” Jenny told her. “You’ll know they’re well beaten when you don’t notice any of the whites.”
Dicey as it was, Jenny let Raegan practice her knife skills. It took awhile, but Raegan chopped the green onions, evenly.
Jenny said, “Good job!”
Reece was in charge of the cheese; she chose gouda, knowing that a high quality cheese is the key to a simple yet delicious omelette. She shredded the wedge well, not too finely so that it would melt too much nor too chunky so that it wouldn’t melt enough.
Jenny cooked them on the pan, demonstrating the importance of a well oiled surface and heating the pan well before the egg even hit the pan.
After a few minutes, Jenny plated the omelettes, showing them that good presentation enhances the dining experience.
The students and teacher dug into their classwork.
“Mmmm, this tastes so good!” said Raegan.
“I’m a good chef,” said Reece, “thanks to a good teacher!”
Sara this is perfect. Excellent incorporation of “good” and “well,” and of course, like the skilled writer you are you used them correctly. Well done.
And besides that, you give us this great scene. I would have liked to see a little more personality from the pupils, a little more conflict and emotion in the scene, but in such a quick passage that would have been impossible. The only answer is that you’ll have to write more 🙂
You have a very clear, readable voice, Sara. I want to repeat what I said about writing a novel. I would love to read anything you write.
Thanks, Joe!
Well… with National Novel Writing Month just around the corner, I wonder – is it cheating if I use my first exercise to get a headstart?
Absolutely not. Go for it.
Really nice control/restraint, Sara. Very sparse.
I think your voice might work especially well with a whiz-bang plot or some kind of skewed character study, in a kind of juxtaposition.
Thanks, Mark! I appreciate the feedback. Lots of technical terms here; could you explain a bit more?
Yes, Mark, I think we’d all like to know what a whiz-bang plot is.
Ha ha, OK, what I mean by “whiz-bang” is a very action-filled plot with lots of, um, the equivalent of movie special effects (whatever we would call that in writing). But I only mean that as an example of what you could experiment with. Sara, my point was that your style is very matter-of-fact, direct, and physical. It has a “reporter’s” feel to it as a result, but you couple it with a good long-stretch rhythm (I just made up that term; I mean not the rhythm within the sentences so much as between the larger story components like when you alternate between narrative and dialog. You’re very good at this.). I mean all of this as a very high compliment. So, I believe that you might experiment with a plot that IS very intricate — or, with characters who are odd — and get a neat effect from the juxtaposition of simple narrative style against surprise and intricacy of plot and/or characters.
You could say all of the above much more simply than I, which is exactly the point! 🙂
I love this, and I think Mark’s absolutely right. It’s almost November, Sarah. I’d love to help you with your novel. Why don’t you give me a call. You have my number right?
Wednesdays are cooking lesson days at the Long house. Today, Jenny teaches her nieces the proper way to make an omelette.
Raegan cracked the eggs, just like Jenny told her to — against the cutting board and not the bowl, with a swift twist of her wrist — which resulted in a single, long crack. No bits of shell to pick out of the bowl this time.
“Well done!” said Jenny.
Reece beat the eggs, wielding the whisk rather well. Jenny, surprised by the strength of her second grader coached to keep at it.
“Beat them well, until the yolks and whites are fully incorporated, ” Jenny told her. “You’ll know they’re well beaten when you don’t notice any of the whites.”
Dicey as it was, Jenny let Raegan practice her knife skills. It took awhile, but Raegan chopped the green onions, evenly.
Jenny said, “Good job!”
Reece was in charge of the cheese; she chose gouda, knowing that a high quality cheese is the key to a simple yet delicious omelette. She shredded the wedge well, not too finely so that it would melt too much nor too chunky so that it wouldn’t melt enough.
Jenny cooked them on the pan, demonstrating the importance of a well oiled surface and heating the pan well before the egg even hit the pan.
After a few minutes, Jenny plated the omelettes, showing them that good presentation enhances the dining experience.
The students and teacher dug into their classwork.
“Mmmm, this tastes so good!” said Raegan.
“I’m a good chef,” said Reece, “thanks to a good teacher!”
Sara this is perfect. Excellent incorporation of “good” and “well,” and of course, like the skilled writer you are you used them correctly. Well done.
And besides that, you give us this great scene. I would have liked to see a little more personality from the pupils, a little more conflict and emotion in the scene, but in such a quick passage that would have been impossible. The only answer is that you’ll have to write more 🙂
You have a very clear, readable voice, Sara. I want to repeat what I said about writing a novel. I would love to read anything you write.
Thanks, Joe!
Well… with National Novel Writing Month just around the corner, I wonder – is it cheating if I use my first exercise to get a headstart?
Absolutely not. Go for it.
Really nice control/restraint, Sara. Very sparse.
I think your voice might work especially well with a whiz-bang plot or some kind of skewed character study, in a kind of juxtaposition.
Thanks, Mark! I appreciate the feedback. Lots of technical terms here; could you explain a bit more?
Yes, Mark, I think we’d all like to know what a whiz-bang plot is.
Ha ha, OK, what I mean by “whiz-bang” is a very action-filled plot with lots of, um, the equivalent of movie special effects (whatever we would call that in writing). But I only mean that as an example of what you could experiment with. Sara, my point was that your style is very matter-of-fact, direct, and physical. It has a “reporter’s” feel to it as a result, but you couple it with a good long-stretch rhythm (I just made up that term; I mean not the rhythm within the sentences so much as between the larger story components like when you alternate between narrative and dialog. You’re very good at this.). I mean all of this as a very high compliment. So, I believe that you might experiment with a plot that IS very intricate — or, with characters who are odd — and get a neat effect from the juxtaposition of simple narrative style against surprise and intricacy of plot and/or characters.
You could say all of the above much more simply than I, which is exactly the point! 🙂
I love this, and I think Mark’s absolutely right. It’s almost November, Sarah. I’d love to help you with your novel. Why don’t you give me a call. You have my number right?
Well, this may be my biggest grammar pet peeve! Good job clearing it up.
I slept well, but the morning coffee was good.
Katie
I love a good cup of coffee in the morning.
The day usually goes well if you’ve got a good start. 😉
Well, this may be my biggest grammar pet peeve! Good job clearing it up.
I slept well, but the morning coffee was good.
Katie
I love a good cup of coffee in the morning.
The day usually goes well if you’ve got a good start. 😉
I was deep down inside a sentence when a shape caught my peripheral vision. It was Alyssa in her fuzzy red kitty cat and doggy PJs. She was standing at the door. “Hi, Honey,” I said. Her hair looked beautiful like that, still crumpled and long and wispy and snarled from her pillow.
“Hi,” she said.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Good.”
I closed my eyes. “Sissa, you’re well,” I corrected gently.
“Nope,” she said, looking around. “Reid drew in one of my books, and I didn’t get mad. Erin passed gas under the covers and I didn’t hit her. Then Mom lost my doctor’s excuse, and I’m fine with it. Really I am. I didn’t do anything back to any of them. I’m not bad. I’m good.”
Then she turned and walked away, flicking an invisible strand of her hair from in front of her shoulder to behind it, just as any good 11 year-old girl should.
Wow. Did she really say that?
This is great, though, Mark. I love how you start, “deep inside a sentence”; I think we can all relate to that, and it struck me that you didn’t say deep inside a paragraph or article or novel. It says something about your level of focus and craft that you’re deep inside a single sentence.
I love Alyssa’s sass. “Nope,” she says. Ha!
And I love how you wrap it up, the sass continues with the flicking of the hair. Then you tie it up with “good.” Wonderful.
This one is fiction. But, I can imagine that she would have!
Wow, Mark.
Well done! I have an eleven year old little sister, and this sounds like something she would say: I can really identify. Well done on your super accurate observations!
This scene also shows a lot about the relationship between you (or rather, the speaker) and Alyssa. The fact that she talks to the speaker like this means they have a good relationship. From this, I wouldn’t call her “sassy” as such: just frank and childlike. I think that frankness is great in stories, because I (as a reader) get frustrated when I have to play detective for too long. Then I get in intellectual mode and can’t empathize properly with characters.
Sorry I rambled: well done Mark, for a brilliantly written scene! It’s a Goldilocks scene: juuust right!
I was deep down inside a sentence when a shape caught my peripheral vision. It was Alyssa in her fuzzy red kitty cat and doggy PJs. She was standing at the door. “Hi, Honey,” I said. Her hair looked beautiful like that, still crumpled and long and wispy and snarled from her pillow.
“Hi,” she said.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Good.”
I closed my eyes. “Sissa, you’re well,” I corrected gently.
“Nope,” she said, looking around. “Reid drew in one of my books, and I didn’t get mad. Erin passed gas under the covers and I didn’t hit her. Then Mom lost my doctor’s excuse, and I’m fine with it. Really I am. I didn’t do anything back to any of them. I’m not bad. I’m good.”
Then she turned and walked away, flicking an invisible strand of her hair from in front of her shoulder to behind it, just as any good 11 year-old girl should.
Wow. Did she really say that?
This is great, though, Mark. I love how you start, “deep inside a sentence”; I think we can all relate to that, and it struck me that you didn’t say deep inside a paragraph or article or novel. It says something about your level of focus and craft that you’re deep inside a single sentence.
I love Alyssa’s sass. “Nope,” she says. Ha!
And I love how you wrap it up, the sass continues with the flicking of the hair. Then you tie it up with “good.” Wonderful.
This one is fiction. But, I can imagine that she would have!
Words were my enemy tonight. But I managed to squeak this out.
……
“Hey kid,” he said. “You shined out there today.”
He fastened the last button on Susan’s jacket and tucked her hair behind her ears. He looked her in the eyes and smiled and said, “You’re a good kid. And you’ll have a good future ahead of you as long as you stay focused like you did today. You impressed your old man, baby. That’s not an easy feat but you did well.”
She looked down. She hadn’t heard words like those in a while.
“Now run over to your mom,” he said. “She’s been waiting a while to talk to you.”
Susan leaned up and kissed her father on the forehead and turned toward her mother.
“Thanks dad,” she said. “I really miss you. I just wanted you to know that.”
He smiled and nodded in the direction of Susan’s mother and said, “You better go talk to her, baby.”
Susan sprinted off across the gravel parking lot toward her mother.
“You are amazing, young lady,” her mother said. “And not only did you play well, you shined. The best one on the team.”
“That’s the same thing dad said,” Susan said. “Maybe we can invite him to come out to celebrate with us? Please, mom. That’s all I want.”
Amanda, Susan’s mother, looked over at her fiancée, Greg. He shrugged but smiled loosely.
“That’s fine, baby,” she said, “but you’re riding with us.”
“Thank you mom,” she said as she gripped her arms tightly around her mother. “Thank you, really.”
This is great, Bo. You capture so much of the characters here in such a short space, and you mixed joy with pain really well, especially in this small sentence, “Amanda, Susan’s mother, looked over at her fiancée, Greg.” Nicely done.
You want to watch out for head hopping, switching POV. You do it here, “She looked down. She hadn’t heard words like those in a while.” And almost but not quite here, “Amanda, Susan’s mother, looked over at her fiancée, Greg. He shrugged but smiled loosely.”
Overall, though, this is a really nice piece.
Thanks. I struggled with the ending. I wanted it to resolve, to come to a sort of conclusion, but then I remembered that it’s alright to end a story and still have questions unanswered. As long as the main objective is reached… or at least that’s how my tiny brain works.
For the POV, I agree. This is an area that I have not spent much time in. I usually hop back and forth when I write, just to go back and correct it later… at least to the best of my ability. What do you recommend that can help with this?
Yeah. I think that’s really good. Most of the stories that really capture me end ambiguously. A lot of people hate that, but I like it as long as it’s done well.
Re: POV, you might check out this article:
http://writerunboxed.com/2011/06/16/head-hopping/
We still haven’t written about it, but it’s on the to do list.
Words were my enemy tonight. But I managed to squeak this out.
……
“Hey kid,” he said. “You shined out there today.”
He fastened the last button on Susan’s jacket and tucked her hair behind her ears. He looked her in the eyes and smiled and said, “You’re a good kid. And you’ll have a good future ahead of you as long as you stay focused like you did today. You impressed your old man, baby. That’s not an easy feat but you did well.”
She looked down. She hadn’t heard words like those in a while.
“Now run over to your mom,” he said. “She’s been waiting a while to talk to you.”
Susan leaned up and kissed her father on the forehead and turned toward her mother.
“Thanks dad,” she said. “I really miss you. I just wanted you to know that.”
He smiled and nodded in the direction of Susan’s mother and said, “You better go talk to her, baby.”
Susan sprinted off across the gravel parking lot toward her mother.
“You are amazing, young lady,” her mother said. “And not only did you play well, you shined. The best one on the team.”
“That’s the same thing dad said,” Susan said. “Maybe we can invite him to come out to celebrate with us? Please, mom. That’s all I want.”
Amanda, Susan’s mother, looked over at her fiancée, Greg. He shrugged but smiled loosely.
“That’s fine, baby,” she said, “but you’re riding with us.”
“Thank you mom,” she said as she gripped her arms tightly around her mother. “Thank you, really.”
This is great, Bo. You capture so much of the characters here in such a short space, and you mixed joy with pain really well, especially in this small sentence, “Amanda, Susan’s mother, looked over at her fiancée, Greg.” Nicely done.
You want to watch out for head hopping, switching POV. You do it here, “She looked down. She hadn’t heard words like those in a while.” And almost but not quite here, “Amanda, Susan’s mother, looked over at her fiancée, Greg. He shrugged but smiled loosely.”
Overall, though, this is a really nice piece.
Thanks. I struggled with the ending. I wanted it to resolve, to come to a sort of conclusion, but then I remembered that it’s alright to end a story and still have questions unanswered. As long as the main objective is reached… or at least that’s how my tiny brain works.
For the POV, I agree. This is an area that I have not spent much time in. I usually hop back and forth when I write, just to go back and correct it later… at least to the best of my ability. What do you recommend that can help with this?
Yeah. I think that’s really good. Most of the stories that really capture me end ambiguously. A lot of people hate that, but I like it as long as it’s done well.
Re: POV, you might check out this article:
http://writerunboxed.com/2011/06/16/head-hopping/
We still haven’t written about it, but it’s on the to do list.
What are you? Good. How are you? Well. There is no negotiating this – from a strict grammatical point or view, “I am good” in response to a question of manner is wrong. The ill distinction is facetious. Should be careful before trying to teach.
What’s next? “How did the Knicks play?” “Good.” I guess that means they are not ill.
“How are you [feeling]?” as a greeting *absolutely* comes from the idea
of health and wellness. Look at every primary greeting of every western
language back to Attic Greek, and you’ll see that they ALL refer to
wishing good health unto the recipient. Ergo, I would argue that the
correct response to “How are you” is “well.” Moreover, other questions
of greeting act in a similar function: “How are you doing” would need
“well,” as would “How’s it going.” Both of these greetings refer to the
ability of the recipient to perform tasks in life, or the way in which
their life has been progressing. They are literally asking “Are you able to do things well” or “Has your life been progressing well,” respectively.To say that “how are you” takes “good”
ignores the etymology. Even in reference to mental condition, I would argue this continues to be a matter of health. While I agree language evolves with society, in
this case it has simply gotten colloquially lazy. “I trust you’re doing
good?” No. But I am doing *well*, thank you.
Uh…shoot, I strayed from the actual prompt. I just ran with the “use ‘good’ and ‘well'” part of the prompt and ran off from there. Ended up writing something regarding sibling rivalry instead of a mother praising her child. :/
————————–
“Sure you don’t need help on that paper there?”
Keith’s voice lingered in the air surrounding Caleb before disappearing and sinking into his brain that was already busy handling scribbled algebra and nonsense digits. Caleb felt the smug grin on his big brother’s face without needing to look at him. He hated his lightheartedness, the well-meaning I’m-a-nice-guy tone he always carried and paraded around with whenever mom and dad was in earshot.
“Whaddaya say, lil’ bro?” Keith asked again.
Caleb didn’t answer. He kept his head down on the calculator and pressed “delete” again. He pretended to make sense of the numbers on the page. Be Einstein, his little voice said. Be Einstein and beat that stupid jerk, he said again, this time louder. Deep in thoughts, he almost jumped when he felt a hand run through his bushy hair, a movement he knew all too well. His father, Joe, smiled and ruffled his hair.
“How about it, squirt? Your brother asked you a question, you know,” he said in an equally affable voice.
Caleb wanted to cry out. But he didn’t. He knew better than to incite the wrath of the Manner Titans, a fictional group of invisible goblins he thought had always possessed mom and dad whenever Caleb misbehaved and said things that he shouldn’t. Things like “shuddup”, “leave me alone” and his favorite, “piss off!” The last one always made him giggle. He liked saying that. He knew Keith loved saying it too. Just not in front of mom and dad and the presence of the Manner Titans.
“No, Keit—“ Caleb stopped midway. “No thank you, Keith.”
Joe smiled, or more likely, the Manner Titans smiled at Caleb’s good behavior.
“Alright, make sure you do your work well, son. Remember, any questions, you can—“
“Ask Keith for help, yeah, I know, I know,” Caleb interrupted his father, and quickly regretted his actions. He stared wide-eyed at Joe and back at Keith, expecting an immediate reprimand for his error. But nothing came. Neither Keith nor Joe looked like they noticed or cared. Maybe a fly buzzed by the Manner Titans’ ears. Joe went back to reading the newspaper, and Keith went back to doing whatever he was doing – Caleb didn’t care to notice.
“Alright, lil’ bro.”
Stop calling me that, Caleb wanted to say. You don’t mean it anyways.
It was never “lil’ bro” for Caleb, just the sincere and simple “idiot”. The boy went back to his homework and tried to refocus. He wanted so bad to complete the work and shove it right up his brother’s face and show him that he could do it all alone, that Keith wasn’t the only one capable of getting his parents’ approval. Caleb didn’t want full marks; he didn’t want the class award. He simply wanted a humble and loving “well done, son” from his parents.
That was all he ever wanted, and it was something he never got.
Caleb noticed that there was something very different between a “well done” and a “good job”, especially when it came from Joe. He clearly remembered every instance he’d heard his father give out a measly “Good job, son”. It was quick, probably more mandatory than sincere.
Caleb remembered a time when Joe had said it to him without even looking at him or asking what subject it was when he came running in yelling “Dad I got top marks in class!” Whenever Joe said “Well done” to Keith though…Caleb could tell that his father meant it. It was slower with a deeper resonance, and Joe had always looked Keith in the eye. Caleb always frowned when it happened, and always went back to playing Zombie Rampage on the computer. He’d imagine the zombies as Keith, of course.
Back on the table, Caleb stared at the pages of algebra again, and with renewed determination, he went back to working with all seriousness. Be Einstein, he said, and smiled.
I’m fine, thank you.
Then Muse was wrong when saying “And I’m feeling good.”
No, they were correct. If they said, “I’m feeling well,” it would be a reference to their health, which doesn’t make sense in the context of the song.
Then is this an exception to the rule? So, is “I am well.” true when referring to our health?
The girl was shining. He felt great. The discarded wallet looked like a
dead animal on the road.
“I’m proud of
you Suzy . You are so good person. Another child hasn’t return it”
“But it hasn’
t something inside Mom. A chewed gum only»
“You’re a
funny little girl . I am sure that you would also return it ”
Nonsense, thought
Susan . Her mother would always looked her as she liked. She will never tell her that the money she had found inside, she guard them under the bed.
My mom is
right .I think I did really well.
Good use of good vs. well, Nana!
My response to someone asking how I am would be “Very well, thank you,” or “Fine, thanks.”
You’re very polite, Claudia!
I have been confused by these two words for years! Thank you for the clarification!
Well, my response to the question, “How are you?” has always been “Fine.”
“Break a leg Suzy,” her mom bellowed as Suzy left for the podium to perform her dance.
It was as if everything else stood still. All Lisa could see was the podium and her beloved daughter. She could feel each second that crawled by before Suzy opened her act. Gradually apprehension melted into hope and ended in excitement as Suzy got a standing ovation – the first of the night.
After the show, Suzy came running to her mother.
“You did pretty well, Suzy.”
“Awwh. Not you too mom. It is the same dance I have always done.”
“No. It was a good performance. An excellent one I dare say.”
“Ok. Thanks mom. You made it all possible.”
As they drove home, Lisa’s thoughts ran wild – Suzy was going to be a superstar. “I have to make sure she stays well,” she thought. It was a glorious night. One she will not forget in a long time to come.
I am from the UK, and I think that the confusin between ‘good’ and ‘well’ is more prevelant in the USA than in the UK. Having said that, ‘Good’ does seem to be more common now than it used to be, in it’s use as an adverb.
I’m not sure I’ve got the good/well thing down pat yet or not…
Susie woke up late Sunday morning. She got out of bed, slipped on her old matted, dusty pink slippers and stared at them. Santa had brought Susie those bright pink fuzzy slippers 5 years ago, when she had turned 13 the day before, on Christmas Eve. She had worn them every single day since. She walked downstairs to the kitchen.
“Good morning Susie!” her mother cheerfully said.
Susie just kept looking at her old slippers. Time flies, even for teenagers. Definitely time to make some changes, Susie thought.
“Did your gig go well last night?” Susie’s mother always, annoyingly asked how her band did after a performance.
“It was a good gig, Mom. Thanks for asking. I think it’s about time I moved in with Gia. We’ve got to start getting ready for college you know. And the band has to keep practicing and playing if we are going to get good enough to be noticed.”
Susie’s mother was quick to reply… “You just said the gig went well, so I think you would be doing good to just stay put for two more months. Your practices are going well, despite the drive, and you are still able to save money by living at home. Just hold your horses, young lady.”
Everybody in the audience was quite as the announcer spoke. “And for the win, Suzy, can you spell the word BURGUNDY?”
“Burgundy. B,U,R,G,U,N,D,Y. Burgundy”
“And the winner of today’s Spelling Bee is Suzy Armstrong!!”
The audience clapped. Cheers roared from Suzy’s supported. And the loudest of them all, her Dad. It took a moment for the medals to be handed out and Suzy started down the stairs towards the second row where her Dad, Mom and two younger brothers waited, cheering and smiling.
“Suzy!! Ha, Ha! You were excellent up there, you did very well today! Your Mom and I are so proud of you!”
“Thanks Dad”, Suzy said. “I am really thrilled to have won, I can’t wait to show my medal to grandma and grandpa!”
And I am sure they can’t wait to here the news. They really wished they could have made it today”, said her Dad.
“Yup, well that is ok Dad. I understand. You did get it all on video, right? We can all watch when we visit next week!, she said.
“Yes I did. So, how would you like to celebrate? You’re brothers want to have lunch at the new restaurant that opened today. Apparently, they heard that the burgers and fries are really excellent.”
“Sure, why not!”, Suzy said, excited.
“Good, off we go then. And Suzy, We are really proud of you. Again, you did very well up there. You were calm and well composed.Not what I would have been” said her Mom.
“Thank Mom! I can’t wait for the Nationals to begin next month”, Suzy said.
Suzy reaches home and talks to mother.
Suzy: Hey, Mumma. How’s it going?
Mother: Pretty well. You’re back. Tell me, how was the spelling bee? How did you perform dear?
Suzy: Yeah, it was really very good experience mumma. And I performed so well that I have a good news about.
Mother: Oh really, let me guess. Did you win any prize there?
Suzy: There you are mumma! I’ve won the first prize!
Mother: Wow, so good to hear that.
Suzy: Thank you. I enjoyed there well and feeling so good to win.
Mother: Sure. Now it’s time for a good celebration? Great celebration I meant!