adverbs of manner and verbs of the senses

[grammarizing me]

Can verbs of the senses EVER be modified by an -ly adverb of manner? (Or must they be modified by adjectives exclusively?) (Thanks for any tips.)

[Yankee]

Hi GM

Are you referring generally to 'linking verbs' (also called copula/copular verbs) when you say 'verbs of the senses'?

When an adjective follows a linking verb, that adjective refers back to the subject of the sentence.

They are rich. ('rich' is an adjective)
That looks interesting. ('interesting' is an adjective)
This soup tastes strange to me. ('strange' is an adjective)
She appeared happy to see him. ('happy' is an adjective)
The dog smells bad. ('bad' is an adjective)
She grew angry. ('angry' is an adjective)

Generally speaking, an adverb will modify the adjective in such a sentence:

They are obscenely rich. ('obscenely' modifies the adjective 'rich')
That looks fairly interesting. ('fairly' modifies the adjective 'interesting')
This soup tastes really strange to me. ('really modifies the adjective 'strange')
She appeared extremely happy to see him. ('extremely' modifies the adjective 'happy')
The dog smells unbelievably bad. ('unbelievably' modifies the adjective 'bad')
She grew terribly angry. ('terribly' modifies the adjective 'angry')

However, a linking verb can sometimes be modified by an adverb when the linking verb refers to some sort of result or change. For example:

They slowly became rich. ('slowly' modifies 'became')
This soup suddenly tastes strange to me. ('suddenly' modifies 'tastes')
She quickly grew angry. ('quickly' modifies 'grew')
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[grammarizing me]

Thanks for all of the examples Amy!

By 'verbs of the senses' I mean feel, taste, smell, etc. (Which also are linking verbs though, right?)

I know that we can not say "felt badly" or "tasted something sweetly". But is that because "tasted" is not an activity or action that "I" performed, so an -ly adverb of manner cannot be used to modify it and an adjective "sweet" should be used to describe the noun "something"? Or is it because "verbs of the senses" are never modified by an -ly adverb of manner? Is that true, that verbs of the senses are never modified by an -ly adverb of manner?

Thanks again.