Use of 'DO'-variant



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 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 may 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 lexical verbs that 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”, “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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