Difference Between Do And Does

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Every language has its specific grammatical norms. These rules enhance the quality of language and make it richer in essence. When the rules are followed accurately, the written document is considered to be flawless. The difference between “do” and “does” is necessary as it teaches the basic rules of grammar of the verb “do”.

Fact 1 Basic Connotation Of Do And Does

“Do” is an auxiliary verb while “does” is the third person singular of the word “do”. It is in the present tense. It will be clearer if we give an example. When the subjects are represented by pronouns like “you”, “I”, “we”, and “they”, you will notice that “do” has been used like: “I do not like to sleep”, or ‘Do you have a pencil?” or “They will do the decorations” etc. All these sentences contain pronouns and the verb used with them is the auxiliary form of the verb “be”.

Now we will consider the use of the word “does”. It is also used with pronouns like “he”, “it”, “she” .For example: “He does not come to college everyday” or “She does not sing” and also “It does not always snow here”. We notice that when the subjects are singular “does”, which is a singular form of the verb “do” has been used.

Fact 2 Difference In Number

The two words “do” and “does” are used specifically according to number of the subject. When the subject is in the singular number, the word “does” is used while “do” is used when the subject is plural. It is to be noted that the subject can be in the plural form and easily detected and so using the word “do” will not be difficult. But when the meaning denotes plural like Tom and Jim are doing something, even though the names are used separately they are treated as plural and so “do” is used. For example, Tom and Jim do not play football or “What do the children look like in their costumes?” Here children is a word that denotes plural number.

Fact 3 Exceptions

It has been explained that “does” is singular. “He does it well” – in this sentence “he” is singular and so “does” is used. But in the sentence, “Do you like this book?” the word “you” is singular, but in place of “does” we use “do”. Similarly in the following sentence, “I do not like to play football, but he does.”- “I” is singular but “do” is the verb here and according to the rule “does” is used in the next part of the sentence where the word “he’ is singular. So it appears that both the number and person has to be considered when using “do: or “does”.

Fact 4 Uses Of Do

The word “do’ means to carry out or to perform and is a verb. It is a transitive verb and to get a complete meaning of a sentence, with a transitive verb, it should be accompanied by a direct subject and an object. It is also used as an auxiliary verb to give information about the voice, emphasis, aspect and modality of the main verb. E.g. “I do want to go to the park”. “Do” is also used as a helping verb. The word “do” is used to form the two tenses like present and past tenses. It is also used in expressing legal language.

Fact 5 Use Of Does

The word “does’ is used when the subject is a singular pronoun and in the third person. It is also used to refer to a single thing or person. Does is the conjugated form of the word “do”.

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