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It seems that "in a manner such that it is wrong" should be "wrongly", not just "wrong"...

Philosopher of science
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  • It's not. Please don't post mistakes or (as here) colloquial / dialect variants without linked, attributed references. 'Wrong' here is an example of a flat adverb usage, best avoided in academic writing. – Edwin Ashworth May 20 '20 at 11:25
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    I am sorry, I have no idea how to post linked attributed references, or what those are. – Philosopher of science May 20 '20 at 14:20
  • Greybeard says that it is not an adverb... – Philosopher of science May 20 '20 at 14:28
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    I've asked him to delete that misleading answer. 'I did that wrong' where 'I did that wrongly' would work (contrast 'She done him wrong') certainly uses 'wrong' as a (flat) adverb. How acceptable this is is something usage groups disagree on; certainly, it is best avoided in formal registers. – Edwin Ashworth May 20 '20 at 14:33
  • Oh, why didn't you tell me that before! So, something to avoid in formal registers. And what would be the formal phrasing, then? – Philosopher of science May 21 '20 at 10:33
  • 'I did that wrongly' means 'my methodology was incorrect'. And you do emphasise the manner of doing. If you meant 'I got it wrong', referring to the result rather than the way you tackled the situation, your question here needs correcting. Referring to the result, 'I got it wrong' is acceptable in all but the most formal contexts (in the UK, perhaps in all contexts in the US). 'I was wrong' works in any register. – Edwin Ashworth May 21 '20 at 13:35
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    @EdwinAshworth (and whoever else has vote-to-close superpowers): I'd like to see this question reopened, as the quick/quickly answer does not fully apply to the wrong/wrongly adverbs (which are not always interchangeable). See Wrong and wrongly. – Tinfoil Hat May 21 '20 at 18:47
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    @EdwinAshworth Thanks! I didn't think of the distinction between result and process when asking the question. But "I was wrong" works only for immaterial things, like opinions, not for material results. So what would be a formal phrasing for material results? – Philosopher of science May 21 '20 at 18:51
  • Ah, the Green Conspiracy. See Georgia Green, 1970. "How abstract is surface structure?" CLS 6, 270–281. – John Lawler May 22 '20 at 21:14

1 Answers1

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Why is it “I did that wrong” instead of “I did that wrongly”?

Compare

"She arrived at the meeting drunk (adjective)." = "She arrived at the meeting [and she was] drunk." The adjective "drunk" is known as a depictive.

with

"She arrived at the meeting drunkenly (adverb)." = "She arrived at the meeting as if she were drunk." - she need not be drunk... perhaps she was ill or dizzy.

and

"He hammered the metal flat (adjective)." = "He hammered the metal [and as a result, it was] flat." - The adjective "flat" is known as a resultative.

With

"He hammered the metal flatly." (adjective) = "He hammered the metal in a plain, blunt, or decisive manner."[1]

The adjective is used as a free modifier/complement. "Wrong" is not an adverb, "wrongly" is.

Note: I shot him dead.

But

*I shot him deadly.

Thus

“I did that wrong” - I did that and it was wrong.

For further reading, "Resultatives Under the ‘Event-Argument Homomorphism’ Model of Telicity" by Stephen Wechsler, University of Texas at Austin is very accessible.

[1]definition from OED.

Greybeard
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  • Whilst I agree with all you say about depictives - and "she arrived drunk" is clearly a good example. And while "wrong" can be so used - "It is wrong to kill a fly* - I am not sure that "I did that wrong" is a depictive. Depictively wouldn't it be "I got that wrong". Though I accept that the verb "do" can take a depictive - as in "I did the eggs soft*. What do you think? Could I say "I did the eggs wrong"? Whichever way I upvote your good answer. – WS2 May 20 '20 at 12:29
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    Please delete this answer. The question is (a) about 'wrong' used as a flat adverb form of wrongly, not as a depictive adjective (cf the arguably resultative, and certainly adjectival, example 'I marked question 7 wrong'. And (b) a multi-duplicate. eg '... pedantic prescriptivism. Some adverbs don’t change from their adjectival forms. These are known as flat adverbs. A few of the most common ones are close, deep, fast, quick, and right. Some of these have corresponding -ly adverbs with which they are interchangeable—for example, come quick and come quickly mean the same thing.– FumbleFingers' – Edwin Ashworth May 20 '20 at 14:29
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    @WS2 - I take your point and I think that the example is just within the margin to be accepted as adjectival. ++ Wrong and did are, as you point out somewhat vague - if we were to say "I cooked the eggs (i) mistakenly/ (ii) mistaken." we can see a difference that can transfer to "wrong" and "did". - "mistakenly" qualifies "cooked" but "mistaken" describes your state.whilst cooking - the result might or might not be the same.either way, "I did the eggs wrong." seems to be acceptable, but in formal style I would rephrase. – Greybeard May 20 '20 at 15:27
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    Please don't delete this discussion. It's enlightening for those of us who are learning. – Philosopher of science May 21 '20 at 18:29
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    @Philosopherofscience: The problem is that the answer is wrong. In I did that wrong, wrong is an adverb—and a perfectly acceptable one here. You can swap in a different adverb to see: I did that incorrectly. See Wrong and wrongly – Tinfoil Hat May 22 '20 at 18:05
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    @TinfoilHat Couldn't agree more. Greybeard answered the question wrong sounds more natural to my ear than Greybeard answered the question wrongly. The latter sounds somewhat stilted albeit grammatical. And the former doesn't mean the question is wrong; it means the answer is wrong. – JK2 May 23 '20 at 03:59