Uses of Do

Uses of Do Uses of Do Uses of Do By Maeve Maddox ESL learners sometimes have difficulty with the uses of the verb do. For example, a reader wonders about the use of the -ing form doing: According to what I have learned, â€Å"do† is used with the simple present form of the verb to make a question: â€Å"Do you like pizza?† But I have seen â€Å"do† used with the â€Å"-ing† form of the verb: â€Å"Does closing a scheme for new money pay off?† â€Å"Does shutting furnace vents improve efficiency?† â€Å"Does doing a tattoo hurt?† Please explain. Do may be used as either a main verb or as a helping verb. Its forms are do, did, (have) done, doing. As a main verb, do means â€Å"to carry out some action.† What shall I do about the spoiled fruit? (main verb) Mr. Baxter does odd jobs. (main verb) She did all the cleaning for her mother. (main verb) As a helping verb, do is used to pose questions: Do you live in the neighborhood? (The main verb is â€Å"do live.†) Does your dog know the basic commands? (The main verb is â€Å"does know.†) Didn’t I see you at the Court House yesterday? (The main verb is â€Å"did see.† Do is used both to frame a negative statement and to contradict a negative statement: A: I don’t think you know Charley. (negative statement) B: I do know him. (contradiction) A: I don’t think Mrs. Wong turned off the lights last night. (negative statement) B: She did turn them off. (contradiction) Do is used for emphasis: I do love chocolate chip cookies! Jack certainly does love his Monday night football! The form doing can be used with a helping verb to form a main verb, as in â€Å"She was doing her best not to cry,† but in the examples that puzzle the reader, the -ing form doing is not part of the verb. It is a noun (gerund): Does closing a scheme for new money pay off? (The verb is â€Å"does pay off.† The subject is â€Å"closing a scheme for new money.†) Does shutting furnace vents improve efficiency? (The verb is â€Å"does improve.† The subject is â€Å"shutting furnace vents.†) Does doing a tattoo hurt? (The verb is â€Å"does hurt.† The subject is â€Å"doing a tattoo.† In some contexts, the verb do cannot be replaced. For example, â€Å"What shall I do?† But in many others, it can be replaced by a more specific verb. For example, â€Å"I’m doing the dishes† can be rephrased as â€Å"I’m washing the dishes.† Here are some common expressions that use do as a main verb: do a favor do well/do badly do good/do evil do damage do homework do housework do nothing do research do something do the math do one’s best do 70 miles an hour do time (serve a prison sentence) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous20 Names of Body Parts and Elements and Their Figurative Meanings