Do/Does

English grammar and usage issues

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Do/Does

Unread postby Vivienne » 28 Aug 2012, 23:10

How can I explain why this is incorrect:

"What colour eyes does he/she has?"

and

"What does your father is do?"

Thank you :)
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Re: Do/Does

Unread postby matter » 29 Aug 2012, 15:22

[Question word/phrase] + AUXILIARY + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB (bare infinitive) + ?

In 1 "has" is not the bare infinitive. Should be:
"What colour eyes does he/she have?"

In 2 "is do" is two verbs. Should be:
"What does your father do?"

See Question Word Questions
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Re: Do/Does

Unread postby jirkux » 13 Feb 2013, 00:04

The auxiliary (do, does, did) is kind of an "operator". It doesn't have any meaning it just forms the question and it likes to take on all the "grammar". It takes the third person -s so you don't need it any more:

He likes music.

What does he like?
(we don't need the -s any more with the verb like here, because it's included in the operator already).
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