Real / Really as an adverb
Hello everyone!

From what I understand, it is OK to use "real" as an adverb sometimes, for example:

"I'm not real fond of *something*";
"Now it's time for the pretty little lady to come forth with a real pretty song"
etc.

And I can guess that it is mostly used as an intensifier.
My question is this - do the older generation see it as a sloppy use of language? Is it best to avoid this "colloquial" (I suppose?) expression?

Thank you in advance.

Question

Real / Really as an adverb
Hello everyone!

From what I understand, it is OK to use "real" as an adverb sometimes, for example:

"I'm not real fond of *something*";
"Now it's time for the pretty little lady to come forth with a real pretty song"
etc.

And I can guess that it is mostly used as an intensifier.
My question is this - do the older generation see it as a sloppy use of language? Is it best to avoid this "colloquial" (I suppose?) expression?

Thank you in advance.

Answer

In proper English it's grammatically incorrect to use "real" as an adverb. If you do it at any language exam it'll be a mistake.

Answer

My understanding is that the difference is more geographical and than generational.

Substitution of adjectives for  adverbs has been a feature of American English for a long, long time. This is not a 'youth' thing. In fact, unless I'm very much mistaken, AE speakers of all generations could say "You did real good". I'd imagine that it's not impossible that a well-educated young person who's learnt how to 'talk proper' (sic) might even be embarrassed to hear their less educated parents or grandparents speak in this way.

This is not generally a feature of British English. If an English person were to say "You did real good", we'd wonder why they were trying to speak like an American.

Answer

I am not really sure if I belong to the 'older generation', but suspect they would think it was sloppy.
But.. it depends where you live. 
More explanation here:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/real

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