Do and Does





To make a question in English we are normally use Do or Does. It is normally put at the beginning of the question.

Affirmative: You speak Arabic.
Question: Do you speak Arabic?

You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Dowhen the subject is Iyouwe or they.

Affirmative: He speaks Spanish.
Question: Does he speak Spanish?

When the subject is heshe or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.

We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must, might, should etc.)


Word Order of Questions with Do and Does

The following is the word order to construct a basic question in English using Do or Does.

Do/Does
Subject
Verb*
The Rest of the sentence
Do
I / you / we / they
have / buy
eat / like etc.
cereal for breakfast?
Does
he / she / it

*Verb: The verb that goes here is the base form of the infinitive = The infinitive without TO before the verb. Instead of the infinitive To have it is just the have part.

Remember that the infinitive is the verb before it is changed and it begins with TO. For example: to have, to eat, to go, to live, to jump etc.

Examples of Questions with Do and Does:
  • Do you speak English?
  • Does Amirul speak Mandarin?
  • Do we have time for a quick drink?
  • Does it rain a lot in the North?
  • Do they want to come with me?
  • Does she like an apple?

Short Answers with Do and Does
In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions
Short Answer
(Affirmative)
Short Answer
(Negative)
Do you speak English?
Yes, I do.
No, I don't.
Do I need a dictionary?
Yes, you do.
No, you don't.
Do you both speak English?
Yes, we do.
No, we don't.
Do they speak English?
Yes, they do.
No, they don't.
Does he speak English?
Yes, he does.
No, he doesn't.
Does she speak English?
Yes, she does.
No, she doesn't.
Does it have four legs?
Yes, it does.
No, it doesn't.

However, if a question word such as whowhenwherewhywhich or how is used in the question, you can not use the short answers above to respond to the question.

Question Words with Do and Does
The order for making sentences with Questions words is the following:

Question Word
Do/Does
Subject
Verb
What
do
you
have for breakfast?
What
does
she
have for breakfast?
Where
do
you
live?
When
do
you
study?
How
do
you
spell your name?

But the way, english is easy and fun when you know how to used it! :)

No comments:

Post a Comment