What is the most difficult thing for English learners? Ask anyone, and they will answer you - times. But what exactly is wrong in these times - there is no answer to this question. And the casket just opens.
Reasons for the difficulty of studying the times in English
Firstly, there are many tenses, especially the tense of the verb do. After Russian, where only three tenses, the abundance of verb forms causes a real shock. Incorrectly presented material can forever discourage a person from learning English. Secondly, after the first shock, it is difficult for people to compare Russian tenses and verb forms with the corresponding verb forms in English. Hence the phrases: “Why did the British come up with so many times?” Especially often, small children ask such questions when they just begin to learn a language.
Verbs do (does) in Present simple
As a rule, difficulties begin already when studying the first time - Present simple. Here pitfalls are contained in auxiliary verbs. Not only are they not in the Russian and Ukrainian languages, it is also unclear why they are in the English language. Paradoxical as it may sound, they are needed in order not to get confused in time. The fact is that in the English language words do not change either by gender, or by numbers, or by cases. How to determine at what time the sentence is said? By the auxiliary verb. For example, if we see the verb do (does) in a sentence, we can safely say that we have Present simple (a simple present tense). Consider the cases of its use below.
The use of the verb do and does
Is this verb so terrible , without which it is impossible to make a sentence in the present tense? The English verb do (does) is the most used. It can be both semantic and auxiliary. As the main verb, the verb do / does is used in its original meaning - to do. For example, we have a sentence
- Masha likes to do lessons and doesn't like to be disturbed. That is why she does homework alone. - Masha loves to do homework and really does not like to be distracted. Therefore, she does her homework alone.
As you can see, here the verb do appears immediately both as a semantic and an auxiliary one. In particular, in the part "Masha likes to do lessons" and "That is why she does homework alone" does just semantic, and in the part "doesn't like to be disturbed" - auxiliary.
Another example:
- "My mom likes to do shopping, but i don't, because she bies only things for her, not for me", - little Tony says to Jane. “My mother loves to go shopping, but I don't, because she buys things only for herself,” says little Tommy Jane.
Here, too, in the part "My mom likes to do shopping" do - semantic. Another thing is that in the translation he does not appear in speech. The fact is that the expression "do shopping" is consonant with our phrase "shop." But when translating, they often use the "go shopping" design. In the part "but i don't, because she bies only things for her, not for me", do just acts as an auxiliary.
- Do you know her? She is so pretty. - Do you know her? She is so beautiful.
Thus, do / does acts as a semantic verb in the same place as in the Russian language we use the verb "do". As an auxiliary, in negative sentences, as can be seen from the examples given above. Consider this point in more detail.
- Why do they walk so slowly? - I don't know, maybe they have a lot of time and don't have to hurry. “Why are they going so slow?” “I don’t know, maybe they have a lot of time and they don’t need to rush.”
Are mistakes with auxiliary verbs so harmless?
In this case, the verb do acts as an auxiliary in a negative and interrogative sentence. Note that without this verb it is impossible to correctly construct a negative sentence in Present Simple, as well as ask a question. No, you can certainly miss the verb do / does, but for an English-speaking person it will sound like "Go to the forest, shoot a squirrel." It seems that all the words are understandable, and even the meaning is captured. But how seriously will a person who speaks in this way be taken? Will they take him seriously and consider him equal? Unlikely. Our people love to make fun of immigrants who do not speak the language well. But they do not think that they themselves in the eyes of the British also look ridiculous and ridiculous. So we come to another important point. With the verb do, everything is clear.
And what to do with the verb does?
What is it for? Why are there two? How to understand when a verb is put? Guessing, trying to get a finger in the sky? Not worth it. In English, as in any language, there are clearly defined grammar rules according to which the use of the verbs do / does is clearly limited. So, does we write in interrogative and negative sentences only if the subject can be conditionally assigned to the 3rd person singular. For example, in the example “That is why she does homework alone” we talked about Masha, who likes to do homework alone. Masha is a noun of the 3rd person singular, therefore this very thing does appear here. In other cases, we put do. Another important point that is often forgotten. If the sentence already does does as an auxiliary verb, then the ending s is not put to the main semantic verb in the sentence. If the subject is a noun in the 3rd person singular, then we add the ending s to the main verb. This will also serve as a marker for the present.
Ask any student what is the hardest part about the topic of “times” (well, except for their number)? Posing questions. This topic is difficult because teachers rarely provide a clear and transparent outline for constructing a question. If you remember it once and for all, then you can raise any question at any time by analogy.
So, general questions and the use of the verb do
To make it clearer, these are the questions that can be answered yes / no.
- Auxiliary verb + subject + semantic verb + what + where + when?
Using the Present simple example, it looks like this:
- Verbs Do (does) + subject + semantic verb + what + where + when?
That is, the auxiliary verb just comes first.
Special questions and sentences with the verb do
They are built on almost the same principle. The only difference is that the so-called interrogative word appears in these questions. Next, the scheme is repeated.
- Question mark + auxiliary verb + subject + semantic verb + what + where + when?
or
- What / where / when + auxiliary verb + subject + semantic verb + what + where + when?
- What / where / when + verbs do (does) + subject + semantic verb + what + where + when?
Moreover, such a scheme is always preserved, even if we ask trivial things:
- What spice do you like? - Ginger, of course. - What kind of spice do you like? “Of course, ginger.”
- Where does your sister do her hairdo? - What do you mean? She does it yourself. - Do you really think so? - I am sure. - Where is your sister doing hairstyles? - What do you mean? She makes them herself. -Do you really think so? “I'm absolutely sure.”
As you can see, the above example presents both general and special issues. We also note that, as in the case of negative sentences, if the sentence has an auxiliary verb does, then we do not add the ending s to the main verb. Because of this, an interesting picture is obtained.
Where does your sister do her hairdo? This proposal introduces both do and does. But does is helper because we are talking about sister, and do is semantic. The fact is that in English there is a stable phrase - to do smb's hairdo. It means "do hairstyle" in any context.
Verb forms do
The verb to do, like all English verbs, has many forms. Remember that to do is just an infinitive. What happens to this verb, say, in the past tense? In Past Simple, the verb to do changes and takes the form did. This is an irregular verb, so no ending -ed is added to it. It must be taught, like a number of other verbs, according to special tables.
- They were walking across the street and the mother told little Janny: "Where did you go?" - "I am not obliged to tell you everything". - "Yes, but i am your mother. I didn't know anything about your things and i was verry frightened because of that." - They crossed the road, and the following dialogue took place between mom and little Jenny: - Where did you go? - I do not have to report on everything to you! “Yes, but I am your mother.” I did not know anything about your plans and it scared me very much.
As you can see from the example above, the auxiliary verb did indicates the elapsed time here. In parallel with this, in the same sentence, no endings are added to the main verb according to the main rule. This is logical - why add some endings to these unfortunate verbs, if there is already a direct pointer to both the time and the nuances of the semantic meaning of the sentence? That is why such a mistake as adding endings in the past tense in questions seems to the Americans and British stupid. The same picture is observed in negative sentences: I didn't know anything about your things and i was verry frightened because of that. Specifically, the “didn't know” part clearly illustrates the rule that was discussed above.
Here are some more examples:
- What did you want to tell me? - Is it important? You had never listened to me, so why did you ask now? I don't want to tell you anyway.- What did you want to tell me? “Is it important, because you never listened to me, so why are you asking now?” In any case, I don’t want to tell you anything.
Similar to the previous example of the "What did you want to tell me?" and "You had never listened to me, so why did you ask now?" show that in the presence of the auxiliary verb did no ending is put anywhere. Often people confuse did as semantic and as auxiliary verbs.
What to do in order not to confuse the use of the verbs do (does)?
First, do not be lazy and translate the sentence. Secondly, to learn the rules for the use of verbs and schemes for constructing sentences. Thirdly, to learn the times. In particular, an educated person should know that if did is at the beginning of a sentence or almost at the beginning, then this will be a question, which means that a second, semantic verb should appear. If a negative particle is next to did, then this is a negation. Again, there should be another verb next to which you do not need to add anything. If did stands as if separately, then it must be translated in the same way as do.
Be that as it may, this is not all forms of the verb do. Like all verbs, it has the ending form ing. This form is used to designate gerundial forms, and to form a group of long times.
- What are they doing? - Cildren are just eating. - What are they doing? “The kids just eat.”