Jump to content

Menu

Another grammar question


Recommended Posts

It's not because it's irregular. It's because in the present tense in English the verb only changes in the *third person* singular.

 

ETA for more detail now that I'm not on my phone.  Let's take a completely regular present tense verb:

 

SINGULAR                     PLURAL

I sit                                 we sit

you sit                            you (all) sit

he/she/it sits                  they sit

 

The only thing that makes 'do' irregular is that an 'es' instead of just an 's' gets added to the stem in the third person.  Because 'dos' would be silly.

 

I'm guessing the almost complete lack of teaching about verbs in English is because of this - there's virtually nothing going on except in the third person singular, and even then just in the present tense.  But I still think they should teach about conjugations and tenses.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lesson ds7 did yesterday was about when to use don't and doesn't. I know when to use them but never thought about why. So ds wants to know why if you use doesn't for singular and don't for plural why we say I don't not I doesn't?

 

It isn't only singular and plural, though.

 

I do not. You do not. I don't, you don't. "I" is not plural; "you" can be singular or plural. There must be some rule in there about the subject and number. :-)

 

At any rate, you still have to go back to the pre-contraction word, right? If you would write/say "do not," then you contract it "don't." If you would write/say "does not," then you write/say "doesn't." None of the grammar materials I have used explained don't/don't usage on their being singular or plural.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It isn't only singular and plural, though.

 

I do not. You do not. I don't, you don't. "I" is not plural; "you" can be singular or plural. There must be some rule in there about the subject and number. :-)

 

At any rate, you still have to go back to the pre-contraction word, right? If you would write/say "do not," then you contract it "don't." If you would write/say "does not," then you write/say "doesn't." None of the grammar materials I have used explained don't/don't usage on their being singular or plural.

 

Read my post above.  I explained it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...