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

Redundant Object Pronouns in Spanish

Redundant Object Pronouns in Spanish Although by definition, pronouns are words that stand for nouns, it is common in Spanish to use a pronoun, particularly an object pronoun, in addition to the noun it stands for. Such use of redundant object pronouns occurs most commonly in the following situations. When the Object of a Verb Precedes the Verb Placing the object before the verb, while certainly common in Spanish (and possible in English to give a sentence literary flavor), can be at least slightly confusing to the listener. So placing a redundant object pronoun helps make it clearer which noun is the subject of the verb. The redundant object pronoun in these cases is mandatory or nearly so, even when the form of the verb (such as it being plural) might seem sufficient to indicate what the subject and object of the verb are. For example, in the sentence El buffet de desayuno lo tenemos de mià ©rcoles a domingo (We have the breakfast buffet from Wednesday to Sunday), buffet de desayuno is the object of the verb tenemos. The lo (which isnt translated but in this case would be the equivalent of it) is redundant but still required. Some examples, with the redundant object and pronoun in boldface: Al presidente le vamos a preguntar quà © es lo que ha ocurrido. Were going to ask the president what it is that has happened.La piscina la encontramos muy sucia. We found the swimming pool very dirty.Los instrumentos los compraron gracias al apoyo financiero de su madre. They bought the instruments thanks to the financial support of their mother. Youll probably come across the redundant object pronoun most often with gustar and verbs similar to gustar, which normally put the object ahead of the verb. Note that when these verbs are used, they are usually translated with the object in Spanish being the subject of the English translation. A Cristal le gusta estar rodeada de gente. Cristal likes to be surrounded by people.A Sakura le encantaba ir al parque a jugar. Sakura loved going to the park to play. To Provide Emphasis Sometimes, especially in Latin America, the redundant pronoun may be used even when the object appears after the verb in order to provide emphasis. For example, in Gracias a ella lo conocà ­ a à ©l (thanks to her, I met him), the lo remains even though the speaker added a à ©l to call attention to the person the speaker met. We might convey a similar thought in English by placing strong stress on him. When the Object of the Verb Is Todo   Although not required, todo (or its variations) as an object is sometimes accompanied by a redundant pronoun that matches it in number and gender. En sus ojos lo puedo ver todo. In your eyes I can see everything.Tengo mucha fà © que los van a rescatar a todos vivos. I have a lot of faith that they are going to rescue everyone alive. To Repeat the Object of a Verb in a Relative Clause   Sometimes people will use a grammatically unnecessary object pronoun in a relative clause (one that follows a  subordinate conjunction). For example, in Hay otros aspectos del gobierno que los aprendemos (There are other aspects of the government that we learned), the los isnt needed, but it helps link aprendemos to aspectos. This usage isnt particularly common and is sometimes considered grammatically incorrect.