The Verb To Do
The verb to do is another common verb in English. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is often used in questions.
Forms of To Do | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Present | Past | Perfect Form | Continuous Form | |
I / you / we / they |
do
|
did
|
have / had done
|
are / were doing
|
he / she / it |
does
|
did
|
has / had done
|
is / was doing
|
As an auxiliary verb do is used with a main verb when forming interrogative or negative sentences, or for adding emphasis. It is also called the dummy operator or dummy auxiliary.
Question | Positive Statement (spoken) | Negative Statement (spoken) |
---|---|---|
Singular | ||
Do I? | I do | I do not (I don't) |
Do you? | You do | You do not (You don't) |
Does he/she/it? | He/she/it does | He/she/it does not (He/she/it doesn't) |
Plural | ||
Do we? | We do | We do not (We don't) |
Do you? | You do | You do not (You don't) |
Do they? | They do | They do not (They don't) |
Examples
Do | Does | |
---|---|---|
Question - ? | "Do you always take the bus to work?" | "Does she ever do her homework on time?" |
Positive Answer - Yes | "Yes, I do." | "Yes, she does." |
Negative Answer - No | "No, I don't." | "No, she doesn't." |
The most common question using "do" that you will probably hear whilst learning English is "What do you do?" The person asking simply wants to know what you do for a living.
Question | Possible answers |
---|---|
What do you do? | I'm a student. |
I'm an architect. I'm a trainee architect. | |
I'm looking for work. | |
I'm on a career break. | |
I'm a volunteer. | |
I'm a housewife. / I'm a househusband. | |
I'm a pensioner. / I'm retired. | |
What does he / she do? | He / She's a student. |
He / She's an architect. He / She's a trainee architect. | |
He / She's looking for work. | |
He / She's on a career break. | |
He / She's a volunteer. | |
He / She's a housewife. / He / She's a househusband. | |
He / She's a pensioner. / He / She's retired. | |
What do we / they do? | We / They are students. |
We / They are architects. We / They are trainee architects. | |
We / They are looking for work. | |
We / They areon a career break. | |
We / They are volunteers. | |
We / They are housewives. / We / They are househusbands. | |
We / They are pensioners. / We / They are retired. |
When using the continuous tense do becomes doing and it doesn't change.
Doing | |
---|---|
Question - ? | "What are you doing? Are you doing your homework?" |
Positive Answer - Yes | "Yes, I am ." |
Negative Answer - No | "No, I'm not." |
When using the simple past tense do becomes did and it doesn't change.
Did | |
---|---|
Question - ? | "Did you always take the bus to school?" |
Positive Answer - Yes | "Yes, I did ." |
Negative Answer - No | "No, I didn't ." |
When using the perfect tense do becomes done and it doesn't change.
Done | |
---|---|
Question - ? | "Have you done your homework?" |
Positive Answer - Yes | "Yes I have ." |
Negative Answer - No | "No I haven't." |
More functions for the verb “to do”
The verb “to do” works as a main verb.
For example:-
YT - My husband does the dishes.
ST - Gosh! Did he do them yesterday?
YT - Yes he did.
Do is used as an auxiliary verb (dummy auxiliary) in the question form.
For example: I know the way. Do you know the way?
Do is used for emphasis in positive statements.
For example: I do like this beer!
!Note - As an auxiliary verb 'do' is always followed by the base form of the main verb (infinitive).
ThankJu !!
S W A G
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