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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