More interestingly, there are rules that govern the use of
various grammatical items in English language. The above Do-variants are not
exempted. Therefore, if any student would claim complete understanding of all
the Do-variant, such must have understood, correctly, the rules that govern the
use of each of ‘Do’, ‘Does’ and “Did’. Moreover, like
other languages in the world, English is rule governed. Let’s consider these
few rules below:
#Rule 1
‘Do’ represents plural
auxiliary verb and can only be used with plural subjects. Do not use
the auxiliary verb ‘Do’ with singular subjects.
the auxiliary verb ‘Do’ with singular subjects.
For instance, it is wrong to say:
*She do
come home every Friday of the week
*John do lack
manners
Rather, say:
They do
come home every Friday of the week
Tolu and John do lack manners
Why? This is because “she”
and “John” are singular subjects,
while “they” and “Tolu and John” are plural subjects. In grammatical concord, singular
subjects will agree with singular verbs, while plural subjects agree with
plural verbs.
#Rule 2
Do not use the auxiliary verb “Does” with plural subject.
Just like rule 1, “Does” is a singular auxiliary verb and should be used with
singular subject. Anything other than this will not grammatically make sense.
For instance, it is un-English to say:
*They
does work with all zeal.
*People
does not know who I am.
Rather, say:
He does
work with all zeal.
She does not
know who I am.
You might want to know the reason behind this rule too. Just
check the above reason, under #Rule 1.
#Rule 3
Do not add
‘s’, ‘es’ or ‘ies’ with the singular main verbs that the auxiliary verb “Does”
is helping. It is true that every singular lexical verb usually ends with
either ‘s’, ‘es’ or ‘ies’. However, whenever the helping verb ‘Does’ is used
with any singular main verb, the verb becomes neutralized to its base or
ordinary form.
For
instance, it is un-English to say:
*She
does eats rice always.
*He
does speaks Queen’s English
Rather, say:
She does eat rice always
He does speak Queen’s English
Why? This is
because “Does”, among other grammatical items, is a neutralizer.
#Rule 4
Whenever the
auxiliary verb “Did” is used with any past lexical verbs, the verb must also be
neutralized to its base or ordinary form. Just like “Does”, the helping verb
“Did” is also a neutralizer.
For
instance, it is un-English to say:
*James
did not told me you would be
here today
*They
did selected the aso ebi well
Rather, say:
James
did not tell me you would be
here today
They
did select the aso ebi well
If you still
care to know why this is so, check the reason under #Rule 3
Class exercise
Correct the sentences
below, applying the grammatical rules.
i.
Don’t
mind Williams, he don’t check on people
ii.
They
does not know why we are here
iii.
John
and James did not played ball yesterday
iv.
She
doesn’t recognizes family members
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