Difference between do and does.

In every language there are elementary rules that, for one reason or another, turn out to be difficult both to memorize and to execute. In English, such an example is the rule of choosing between do or does, forms of the auxiliary verb to do. The guide to action is quite simple, and it is based on distinguishing personal pronouns by number and person.

Definition

Both do and does refer to this tense and are forms of the auxiliary verb to do, which, along with to have and a number of other verbs, serves mainly to indicate that a question or negation is formulated.

Comparison

For greater clarity, all personal pronouns that determine the difference between do and does can be represented in the form of the following table:

Number / Person First Second Third
The onlyI (i)youhe (he), she (she), it (it)
Pluralwe (we)youthey (they)

Only one cell of this table - the third person singular - requires the use of does, the rest are content with the shorter do. But the problem of memorization remains, despite the simplicity. We can offer you an auxiliary algorithm: first, do is required for all plural personal pronouns. Secondly, if you are dealing with a personal pronoun singular, then referring to someone or talking about myself (I do this; you do this), use do, describing the actions of someone (he / she / it (in the case of an animal) does this) - does.

We / you / they do gymnastics in the morning. We / you / They do / do exercises in the morning.

I do gymnastics in the morning. I do my exercises in the morning.

He / she / it does gymnastics in the morning. He / she / it exercises in the morning.

In interrogative sentences, everything is the same - when asking about someone (for the singular), use does, for someone - do.

Does he / she / it like milk? Does he / she / it like milk?

For both first and second person:

What do I / you want to do? What do you want to do / What do I want to do? (and why not ask yourself, really).

And do not forget that all of the above applies only to the present time - Present Simple. When dealing with the past tense Past Simple, you can forget about the difference between do and does, and feel free to use the third form of the auxiliary verb to do - did.

Conclusions TheDifference.ru

  1. For personal pronouns in the plural, do is always used to denote the present tense.
  2. For personal pronouns in the singular does we only need to describe the actions of one person / animal (third person), both in affirmative and negative / interrogative sentences. When talking about yourself or addressing someone else (first and second person), use do.
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