Everything you need to know about do and does with examples | Do and does are the auxiliaries of the English language: we all know thisfor better or worse. But what does "auxiliary verb" mean? What is its functionand if sohow and when are do and does used correctly?
Learning the correct use of auxiliary verbs in English can be one of the first challenges of learning this language. You'll seehoweverthat there's nothing to fear: with a little practicethe right lessonand a lot of willpowerdo and does will become an open book to youwith no more secrets! And you'll be able to use them with easelike a native speaker.
There's a lot to sayso let's not waste time chit-chat and get straight to the pointlearning how to use do and doesthe two main auxiliary verbs in English! And pay attentionbecause at the end we'll also test you with a couple of skills tests!
How to use 'Do' and 'Does' in Questions?
We've understoodthenthat using do and does in questions is essentialas well as in short answers and negations. But how do you do it? Let's take a look at it together.
Firstthe difference between do and does is that we use:
- Do for the first and second person singularthe firstsecondand third person plural.
( Iyouweyouthey ) - Does for the third person singular
( sheheit )
He do does his homework .
That saidthe structure of the questions should be as follows:
Auxiliary Do/Does + Subject + Main verb + Object or other complements + ?
Do you live in Australia? →
Do they know our address? → Do they know our address?
Does she want another cookie? → Does she want another cookie?
When questions use interrogative words (whenwhowhatwhyhow)do and does are used as auxiliary verbs for the simple present tense. The structure of the questions varies slightly depending on the interrogative word used.
The general structure to follow is always the following:
Interrogative word + do/does + subject + base verb + rest of the sentence + ?
Let's look at some examples to better understand how it works in these cases.
When do you wake up in the morning? → When do you wake up in the morning?
Where do Anna and John live? → Where do Anna and John live?
Why do you like this movie? → Why do you like this movie?
How do I get to the station? → How do I get to the station?
Why does he always arrive late? → Why does he always arrive late?
In case of a negative question, we will behave as follows:
Why don't you like this movie?
And in case of questions in the past we simply conjugate the verbs do and does in the past tenseleaving the main verb in the present tense.
Why did you like the station? → Why did you like this film? →
When did you wake up this morning? → When did you wake up this morning?
Please note : if "who" is the subject of the questionthen it is not necessary to use the auxiliary verbs do and does.
Who wants to come with me? → Chi vuole venire con me? (Here it's the subjectso no do)
Who do you know here? → Chi conosci qui? (In this case it's not the subjectso the auxiliary is needed.)
