How to tell よく (often) apart from よく (good)?


Whenever I see 「よく」, I have to ask someone whether it means "often" or "good".

For example, here is a sentence from my book:

> クラスへ行って、先生の講義をよく聞いて、ノートをよく取り、それをよく覚えれば、試験でいい点がもらえる。

I thought all three 「よく」s meant "often" _(eg. "often takes notes")_ , but a
Japanese friend said they all mean "good" _(eg. "takes good notes")_. He said
"often takes notes" would be 「よくノートを取り」. However, he doesn't know why.

How can you tell the two usages apart?




As Yuu wrote, there is a tendency that よく immediately before a verb often
means “well” and that よく at the beginning of a sentence often means “often,”
but it is by no means a firm rule. Word order is one of the clues, but in the
end, the distinction depends on the context.

For example, suppose that someone said

> よく先生の講義を聞いていれば、試験でいい点がもらえる。

Does it really mean “You will get a good mark on an exam if you are listening
to your teacher’s lecture _often_ (like two thirds of the time)”? It may,
depending on the context, but I think that in most contexts, it is more likely
that the speaker meant “You will get a good mark on an exam if you are
listening to your teacher’s lecture _carefully_ ,” even though this means that
the speaker used a slightly less natural word order.




As Yuu wrote, there is a tendency that よく immediately before a verb often
means “well” and that よく at the beginning of a sentence often means “often,”
but it is by no means a firm rule. Word order is one of the clues, but in the
end, the distinction depends on the context.

For example, suppose that someone said

> よく先生の講義を聞いていれば、試験でいい点がもらえる。

Does it really mean “You will get a good mark on an exam if you are listening
to your teacher’s lecture _often_ (like two thirds of the time)”? It may,
depending on the context, but I think that in most contexts, it is more likely
that the speaker meant “You will get a good mark on an exam if you are
listening to your teacher’s lecture _carefully_ ,” even though this means that
the speaker used a slightly less natural word order.

