The verb to do is one of the most important verbs in the English language. A very large part of the rules of English grammar is devoted to the use of the verb do. And without knowledge of these rules, communication in English becomes impossible.

The verb do as a semantic verb.

The verb do in English means "to perform some action or work." In most cases, English do is similar to the Russian verb. "make", but there are a number of difficult cases that you need to know and remember.

At first, you need to understand the difference between the verbs to make and to do. Both of these verbs in the dictionary are translated how to do "to do". But remember that:

• to make - used when an action is performed, visible.
• to do - used in all other cases.

For instance:

I make a sandwich
I'm making a sandwich.

Used by make since there is a visible result - a sandwich.

Secondly, phrases such as:

• to do crosswords - to solve crosswords (not to do crosswords)
• to do an exam - to take an exam (and not to do an exam)
• to do ironing - to iron (in this case, the literal translation of “to do ironing” is clear, but sounds clumsy)

shouldn't baffle you. In such cases, do not limit yourself to literal translation, but look for a word that is suitable in meaning in Russian.

Auxiliary verb DO or 50% of all grammar

The verb do in English is used as an auxiliary verb for building questions and negations. In these cases, the verb do itself is not translated in any way. To ask a question grammatically correctly, you need to put the verb do in front of the subject. For example, we have an affirmative sentence:

You like cats.
You love cats.

To get a question from an affirmative sentence, it is enough to put the to do verb at the beginning of the sentence:

Do you like cats?
You love cats? (do - auxiliary verb, like- semantic)

That is, in the interrogative sentence, the words go in the following order:

• Question word (optional)
• Auxiliary verb do (or one of its forms)
• Subject
• Predicate
• All the rest

We sorted out the questions. Now I’ll talk about how a negative sentence is built. It's almost as easy. It is necessary to put two words immediately after the subject - "do not".

For example, an affirmative sentence:

I like cats.
I love cats.

turn into negative:

I do not like cats.
I do not like cats.

The English do not like to talk a lot, so instead of “do not” they use the abbreviated version of “don’t”.

I don’t like cats.
I do not like cats.

It should be noted that in some cases interrogative and negative sentences are formed without using the auxiliary verb do. This happens when one of the so-called strong verbs is used as the subject. Strong verbs include to be and all modal verbs with the exception of to have to.

Forms of the verb do

The verb to do has 4 forms:

Do and does are used in the present tense, did - in the past tense, and done - This is the past participle, which is used in some complex temporary structures.

Pronunciation of the main forms of the verb to do:

The form	Transcription
	International	Russian letters
do		[doo]
does		[daz]
did		[did]
done		[Dan]

The verb to do has two present tense forms: do and does. This is unusual for an English verb. The logical question is "When to use do, and when does?" The rule is simple - does is used in the third person singular, do in all other cases... If the subject is the pronoun he / she / it or any noun in the singular, then does is used.

For example, does is used in these cases:

Does he live in Paris?
Does he live in Paris? (Does - auxiliary verb, live - semantic)

Does she live in Paris?
Does she live in Paris?

Does this factory produce toys?
Does this factory make toys?

And in these - do:

Do you live in Paris?
Do you live in Paris?

Do this factories produce toys?
Do these factories make toys?

The second form of the verb do is did used to construct interrogative and negative sentences in the simple past tense (Past simple). In the past tense, just instead of the verb do, we always put did:

What did you want to tell me?
What did you want to tell me? (did - auxiliary verb, want semantic)

Compare with Present Simple:

What do you want to tell me?
What do you want to tell me?

In negative sentences in the past tense, abbreviation is also used. Instead of “did not”, they usually say “didn’t”:

I didn’t see him yesterday.
I did not see him yesterday.

The day before yesterday, after the lesson, one student (upper-intermediate level, by the way) came up to me and said literally the following: “I don't understand when in the past tense you need to say did, and sometimes - was. Often it melts the brain and causes dry mouth. "

Vividly imagining the girl's molten brain and parched mouth, I decided that she needed help. Let's deal with these did and was.

Rule 1.

If we need to say in the past timeaffirmative sentencethen we speak the second form of the verb.

For example: I wrote a love letter to the president. I askedhim to marry me. - I wrote love letter to the president. I askedto marry me.

Rule 2.

If we need to say in the past tense interrogative or negative sentencethen we say did (or didn "t) + 1 verb form.

For example: Why didyou drink my beer ? - I didn "t drinkyour beer. It evaporated. - Why did you drink my beer? - I didn't drink it. It evaporated.

In this case, the verb did - past tense marker... That is, he does not does not translate, but serves the sole purpose of showing the past tense.

The verb do is the same as all other verbs. That is, if we want to put it in the past tense, then say it the second form is did (according to rule 1).

For example: I did yoga, ate a banana and went to Yvonne. - I made yoga, ate a banana and went to Yvonne's.

And if we want to say this very verb do in question or negation? Look at Rule 2. According to it, you need to say did you door didn "t do.

For example: When did you do the Cosmopolitain test? - I didn "t do it. I tore up the magazine. - When you made a test from Cosmopolitan magazine? - I didn't his. I tore the magazine to shreds.

Wherein in the phrase "did you do" the first did is markerthat no way does not translate, but the second do is full verb, which the translates as "made".

There is one verb that behaves ugly, spits on all the rules and selfishly ignores various stupid markers. His name is Verb To Be.

Look again at Rule 2 and say in English: "I didn't buy," "I didn't eat," "I didn't wash," and "I didn't rip."

What happened? I didn "t buy, I didn" t eat, I didn "t wash and I didn" t tear up.

And it turns out that by analogy "I was not" will I didn "t be, right?

But we must speak I wasn "t. Because the verb to be is selfish.

And in the question, you also need to say not "did he be", but "was he".

For instance:

WasJohn at home when the police came? - He wasn "tat home. He was in the garage. - John was at home when did the police arrive? - He was not houses. He was in the garage.

Here the verb was translated into Russian.

And sometimes was does not translate, but only shows that we are in Past Continuous time... This is the past tense, which reflects the question "what did you do" (not "what did you do").

For example: Last evening I was eatingcrayfish pate and reading Walter Scott. - Last night I ate (what did) crayfish pate and was reading (what did) Walter Scott.

So let's summarize.

1) Did can mean "did". Then the interrogative form will be - "Did you do?" - "Did you do?", And negation - "I didn" t do "-" I did not do ".

2) "Did" can be a Past Simple marker (past tense, answering the question "what did you do?"). In this case, did not translate in any way: "Did you buy?" - "You bought?"; "I didn" t forget "-" I have not forgotten. "

3) Sometimes "was" (were) * means "was (and)". In this case, the question is "Were you / was he?" * And the negation is "I wasn" t / you weren "t" *.

4) Sometimes "was" is a Past Continuous marker (past tense, answering the question "what did you do?"). In this case, was is not translated in any way.

* I was
You were
He / she / it was
We were
They were

Now for an exercise. Translate into English.

1. Have you been to the dwarf theater yesterday? - Not.
2. I did a lot of good things yesterday.
3. Podger slept while the doctor ate crayfish pate.
4. When did Louise come from Montenegro? - She didn't come.
5. Why did you do your homework?
6. Yesterday I was picking mushrooms, but I didn't forget to wish Pedro a happy birthday.
7. I was in a fitness club, but I didn't do anything there.

Keys to Exercise -

Verb Do we actually use it very often. It is called an auxiliary verb.

Today I'm going to teach you the basic negative and positive forms of this verb.

The reason this verb is difficult is that it changes depending on the subject - more precisely, on the person of the subject.

For example, if you are talking about yourself, then you should say:

Ido

If we use the words "I" (I) or "You" (you, you) we use the basic form of the verb: do

For instance:

“Do you? I do. ”

With the pronouns “he” (he) or “she” (she), we must use a modified verb: does

She does

This is the only case in which the verb is changed. If we want to talk about a group of people, then we need to use the pronoun they (they):

Theydo

If you are talking about yourself and someone else at the same time, then you need to say:

Wedo

Thus, we only need to worry when we use the verb “do” in conjunction with the pronouns “he” or “she”. But you don't need to worry about it. You just need to remember that with the pronouns "he" and "she" we use does, and in all other cases - do.

Negative forms of the verb do have similar differences.

If we use the verb do in negative form with pronouns:

I, you, they and we,

We have to say “ don’ t”.

Don’ t - abbreviation from donot... But in English colloquial speech is rarely spoken donot... The abbreviation is much more common. don’t.

So with the pronouns I, you, they and we, we use don’ t

For instance:

I don’t have the cat.

You don’t like me.

We don’t go there.

The form" does"In negation takes the form" doesn’ t”.

for instance :

He doesn't like cat.

She doesn’t like him.

Past tense - the past

Another thing that concerns this beautiful verb is the past tense - the Past.

In the past tense, thank God, the verb do does not change and has one form: did

I, He, She, They and We - “ did”.

Negative past tense: “ didn’ t”

Example:

I didn’t like him.

He didn’t like a cat.

	Pronoun	Positive (+)	Negative (-)
Present tense	I You We They	Do	Don’t
	He She It	Does	Doesn’t
Past tense	I You We They He She It	Did	Didn’t

English Joke

Mr. & Mrs. Goldberg had just got married. On their way to their honeymoon, Mr. Goldberg said to his new wife, "Would you have married me if my father hadn’t left me a fortune?"
She replied, "Darling, I would have married you no matter who had left you a fortune."

One of the key grammatical topics is precisely, and this is quite logical, since the verbto do takes a direct part in the education of basic English times. In addition, it can perform as many as two functions in a sentence - being an auxiliary verb (not translated in any way) and a semantic verb (meaning “to do”).

What is the difference between using do did does in English?

Let's try to figure out what is different using do did does in english... All three options are forms to do , but they are applied in different cases. Take a look at the examples.

example	transfer	note
I do my homework on English every evening.	I do my English homework every night.	simple present ( present simple ), affirmative sentence; 1st person singular
Miranda does this better than you.	Miranda does it better than you.	simple present ( present simple), affirmative sentence; 3rd person singular
How often do they play tennis?	How often do they play tennis?	simple present ( present simple), interrogative sentence; 3rd person plural
We don’t want to do that.	We don't want to do this.	simple present ( present simple), negative sentence; 2nd person plural
He did the cleaning yesterday.	He cleaned up yesterday.	simple past tense ( past simple ), affirmative sentence
What did they do last Monday?	What were they doing last Monday?	simple past tense ( past simple), interrogative sentence
I didn’t know what to do.	I didn't know what to do.	simple past tense ( past simple), negative sentence

I.e use of do did does in English depends on the time, the type of sentence and the person who takes the action in the situation you are talking about.

The use of do in English. rules

As for the rules themselves usage of do in Englishthen they are as follows.

1. The use of do in English as a semantic verb.

It all depends on the time. In the simple present tense, two forms of the verb are distinguished to do, the choice of the right one is based on the person who performs the action. Typically for he, she, it use does, and for I and plural - do.

In the past tense, you just need to take did (verb form to do for past simple). Did suitable for all faces and numbers. We were definitely lucky here.

2. The use of do in English as an auxiliary verb.

To form a denial or question in the simple present and past tenses, you will again have to resort to do did does. Take a look at the examples:

example	transfer	notes
I don’t do this every day.	I don't do this every day.	present simple,
She doesn’t do this every day.	She doesn't do it every day.	present simple,
Do you do this every day?	Do you do this every day?	present simple, question; 2nd person plural
Does she do this every day?	Does she do it every day?	present simple,
I didn’t do this yesterday.	I didn't do it yesterday.	past simple, negation; 1st person singular
She didn’t do this yesterday.	She didn't do it yesterday.	past simple, negation; 3rd person singular
Did you do this?	You did it?	past simple, question; 2nd person singular
Did she do this?	She made it?	past simple, question; 3rd person singular

That is, for denial in the simple present tense, you will need don’t (I, we, you, they) and doesn’t (he, she, it), and for the question we must endure do or does in front of the person who performs the action in the sentence. The same thing happens in the past tense, only there are fewer options. Didn’t - for denial (all faces), did - for a question (we also put it out in front of the face).

The use of do and does in English. How not to get confused?

Sometimes use of do and does in English becomes a real problem. How not to get confused? Let's take a look at the possible mistakes first.

1. She doesn’t do any tasks (wrong! )

She doesn’t do any tasks (right!)

Here doesn’t already indicates denial and the present, and do is a semantic verb

2. Does she does any tasks? (wrong! )

Does she do any tasks? (right!)

Does at the beginning pointed out that this is the question and the present for she (3rd person, singular) that's enough

3. He didn’t did it better (wrong! )

He didn’t do it better (right!)

It is important to use the infinitive after the auxiliary verb without to

The secret is that the initial form must follow the auxiliary verb. That is, according to the rule, you cannot apply the ending

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Everyone who is just starting to learn English has difficulty using the verb “ do", Especially when two of its forms are used in one sentence at once: do or does and doing, or twice do, eg:

• Does doing sums take much time? - Does it take a long time to solve examples?
• Does this do him credit? "Does it do him credit?"
• What do you do at your work? - What are you doing at work?

You must be already familiar with the elementary grammar of the English language and probably read that the verb do can perform the function of both a semantic and auxiliary verb, and its forms are do, does, did, (have) done, doing.

Semantic verb do

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As a semantic verb “ do"Means" perform some action ».

What will you do after you finish school? - what will you do after graduation? (semantic verb)
My brother does a lot of various jobs. - My brother does a lot of different jobs (semantic verb)
She did some housework in the morning - she did some housework in the morning (semantic verb)

Auxiliary verb do

As an auxiliary verb " do»Is used to grammatically correctly construct an interrogative sentence in the present and past indefinite tense (s):

Do you meet your cousin John? - are you seeing your cousin John? (do is an auxiliary verb, and meet is a semantic verb)
Does your wife know where you keep documents? - your wife knows where you keep documents (does is an auxiliary verb, but know is a semantic one)
Didn’t he see you yesterday? - didn't he see you yesterday? (did - auxiliary, see semantic)

"Do" is used both to form a negative statement and to refute a negative statement, for example:

- I don’t suppose you feel offended. - I had no idea that you were offended (negative statement)
- But I do feel (negative statement) - but still I am offended (refutation)

- I didn’t think Tom would pay your debt - I didn’t think Tom would pay your debt (negative statement)
- But he did pay - but he still returned (denial)

"Do" is used to emphasize, to emphasize something:
I do love flowers! - I love flowers so much!
Tom certainly does love music! - Tom definitely loves music!

Doing

The form " doing»Can be combined with an auxiliary verb for the formation of extended tenses:

I am doing some work - I am working
He will be doing his homework - he will be doing his homework
I was doing sewing - I was sewing.

But in some cases the form doing is not part of a verb, but a verbal noun ():

Does doing a tattoo hurt? - in this case, the semantic verb is “ hurt ", and the auxiliary one is “ does”. As for the phrase “ doing a tattoo”, Then this is a subject, and can be translated as follows: Is the process of getting a tattoo painful??

In some cases, the verb " do"Cannot be replaced by another, for example," What shall I do?", But in many other cases it can be replaced with a more specific one, for example," She is doing the dishes "Can be replaced with" She is washing the dishes.”

Here are some common expressions in which "do" is a semantic verb, you need to remember them: