What Does vs. What Do
Should we say, “What does Gloria and I have in common?” or “What do Gloria and I have in common?”
If you turn the question around to place the subjects first, you would say, “Gloria and I does/do have what in common.”
Gloria and I are the subjects so we need a plural verb. Which verb is plural? We would say she does but we would say they do. So do is the plural verb. Therefore, the answer is, “What do Gloria and I have in common?”
Try this example: “What does/do the children look like in their costumes?”
If you turn the question around to place the subjects first, you would say, “The children does/do look like what in their costumes.”
Because children is a plural subject, we again need the plural verb do.
Try this example: “What does/do the coach expect from the team?
Turning the question around, we realize that our subject is coach, which is singular. Therefore, we would say, “What does the coach expect from the team?”
Quiz
1. What does/do she look like without makeup?
2. What does/do you and your husband think of the movie?
3. What does/do the team uniform look like?
4. What does/do the team members think of the new coach?
Answers
1. What does she look like without makeup?
2. What do you and your husband think of the movie?
3. What does the team uniform look like?
4. What do the team members think of the new coach?
Posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007, at 3:10 pm
145 Responses to “What Does vs. What Do”
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Hello
Would like to know the rules of ‘ does and do’
Example: Question 1. HOw much does it cost?
Question 2. How much does food leave in a pan?
I realise the last question is incorrect but would kindly like to know the rules of when to use Does & Do
Kind regards
Greg .
“Does” is singular.
Example: How much does it cost? It does cost how much.
“It” is the singular subject so “does” follows.
“Do” is plural.
Example: How do camels walk so far without drinking water? Camels do walk so far without drinking water.
“Camels” is the plural subject so “do” follows.
You restrict do and does to singular or plural but what about “Do you want a car?” or “I do my work at night, but she does her work in the morning.” So should I be considering person plus singular or plural. e.g. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person? Your answer will be very helpful for me and thank you. I use your information a lot. Thank you.
The verb do has two forms in the present indicative: does for the third person singular (he, she, and it) and do for the other subject pronouns (I, you, we, they).
Captivates or captivate? Orchards is the closest noun to the verb, but it seems like array is the subject and “luscious orchards” is just an additional phrase.
“Our array of luscious orchards captivates you.”
After looking at your examples of subject-verb agreement, it seems that the plural form of the verb is needed, but I just wanted to double check b/c it still does not sound right.
Thanks!
Our array of luscious orchards captivates you.
“Array” is the subject and is singular. “Captivates” is also singular because you’d say “he captivates, they captivate.”
Now if we remove array from this example; will the following be correct:
Luscious orchards captivate you.
“Luscious orchards captivate you” works.
However, “Luscious orchards will captivate you” or “Let our luscious orchards captivate you” would be even better.
Thank you very much. I like your website.
Can you answer this question.
Which is correct:
(1) What time does the movie start?
(2) What time does the movie starts?
What time does the movie start?
When I say “What do you think?” I interpret “you” to be singular. Why isn’t it “What does you think”?
The word “you” always takes a plural verb.
‘What do I think’ is surely better than ‘what does I think’ right? But this goes agains the rules as I is always singular
Which of these are correct:
Jesus loves me and so does my teachers!
Jesus loves me and so do my teachers!
“Jesus loves me and so do my teachers.”
really ? my teacher = she or he
he
she = does
it
Judy’s sentence used the plural noun teachers, not the singular noun teacher. Therefore, the plural verb form do is correct.
Which is correct “do the special teams even have a coach?” I think it is does
“Do the special teams even have a coach?”
Which is correct “Why do the good die young?” or “Why does the good die young?” I believe it’s the first b/c “the good” is referring to a plural group of people however is it even correct to do this?
You are correct for the correct reason.
What’s the difference between will and would?and shall and should.:))
Because I don’t teach English as a Foreign Language, please use another site, such as The Chicago Manual of Style for this information.
Please tell me which is correct:
What don’t the data tell us?
What doesn’t the data tell us?
“What don’t the data tell us?” is correct if the word data is being used in the plural sense as facts or pieces of information.
“What doesn’t the data tell us?” is correct if the word data is being used in the singular sense as a body of facts.
Which one is correct:
How much do two bags of apples cost?
How much does two bags of apples cost?
The correct answer is, “How much do two bags of apples cost?” The bags are plural, which means you need a plural form. Perhaps it is easier to understand if you realize that you would say, “Two bags of apples do cost $5.00,” rather than “Two bags of apples does cost $5.00.”
What is correct:
What does each of the details of the passage have in common?
What do each of the details of the passage have in common?
I say does because the subject is each.
You are correct. Since “each” is singular, you would use “does.”
Which is correct:
Do your patients’ blood look like this?
Does your patients’ blood look like this?
According to MS Word the second is correct.
The word “blood” is a mass noun just like “water” and “milk.” These nouns cannot be pluralized so the correct usage would be “Does your patients’ blood look like this?”
My question is about how the difference between “and” and “or” figures into this.
I already know the correct form is “Do next Monday and Tuesday work for you?”
However, is it “do” or “does” in front of “…next Monday or Tuesday work for you?”
Thank you.
Rule 1 of Subject and Verb Agreement is: Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a singular verb. Therefore, “Does next Monday or Tuesday work for you?”
Thanks Jane your explanation is simple and very easy to understand, by the way how about “did” when do we suppose to use it?
The word “did” is the past tense of the verb “do.” The good thing is that it is the same for any subject:
I did
You did
We did
He/She did
They did
Help I am correcting a published websites grammar and have got a bit confused is it
What problems do the government investigate?
or
What problems does the government investigate?
I would have thought do but just checking! Thanks
The “government” is considered a collective noun, which denotes a unit. AP Stylebook recommends the use of only a singular verb. The Chicago Manual of Style says that these nouns can take either a singular or plural verb, depending on the emphasis. “A singular verb emphasizes the group; a plural verb emphasizes the individual members.” (5.8) In this case, the government is considered a single unit, so “What problems does the government investigate?” would be correct.
i would like to ask you about this.
“Jack blames the teachers for everything”
or
“Jack blame the teachers for everything”
Thank you very much!
Jack blames the teachers for everything.
could you explain me the differences of do/does in questions with are/is questions? thanks. ^_^
Please give me an example of the kind of question you are asking about.
Please help me resolve a debate between my wife and I (well, in part Microsoft Word and I). Which of the following sentences is correct:
What implications does this have for their communities?
What implications do this have for their communities?
The first seems right to my ears. But isn’t “implications” a plural, thus requiring use of “do?”
The correct sentence would be “What implications does this have for their communities?” The word “implications” is plural, but it is not the subject of the sentence, so the verb does not have to agree with it. If you turn the question around to place the subject first, you would say, “This does have what implications for their communities?”
Since we are talking about grammar, I also need to point out that your first sentence should read, “Please help me resolve a debate between my wife and me (well, in part Microsoft and me).”
What implications does this have to their communities?
as a rejoinder, I think the questions should be phrased as such:
What implications do these have to their communities? These referring to implications.
Since the author of the original inquiry of August 10, 2011, used the word this, we must infer that he was referring to one factor with implications for the community; the opening of a shopping mall or the closing of a post office, for instance. This or these does not refer to implications but to the factor or factors causing implications.
Thank you Jane for this valuable piece of information…it helped me a lot in understanding the difference between ‘do’ and ‘does’….
I am glad to hear that our website has been helpful.
thanks for the info, but still need your help, which is right
Does your parents allows you to join or Do your parents allows you to join?
thanks again
If you turn the question around to place the subjects first, you would say, “Your parents do allow you to join.” Parents is plural, so you use the plural verb do allow, therefore the correct usage is “Do your parents allow you to join?”
what would the correct sentnce.
” other offices does it ” or ”other offices do it”. This has caused an argument btw my wife and myself.
Since offices is a plural subject, you need to use the plural verb do. I’m going to take the liberty of correcting the last part of your comment: “This has caused an argument between my wife and me.”
When did we start using you and me or my wife and me instead of you and I and my wife and I? Thank you
Our blog I vs. Me addresses this in detail. The first rule states, “Use one of the subject pronouns when it is the subject of the sentence.” The subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, and they. The second rule states, “Use a subject pronoun following state of being verbs such as am, are, is, was, were.” The last rule says, “Use one of the object pronouns when the pronoun is not a subject and it doesn’t follow a state of being verb.” The object pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them. Examples:
You and I need to stay late to finish this project.
Sam brought in a treat for you and me.
My wife and I are going on vacation next week.
Tom gave the tickets to my wife and me.
I’m having a tough time with the use of “do” vs “does” in the possessive “yours”. Do you say “what does yours say?” or “what do yours say?” or would the usage depend on what the “reference” was like “These are my posters. What do yours say?” and “This is my poster. What does yours say?”
Yes, you are correct that the usage depends on whether the subject of the sentence is singular or plural. Your two sentence pairs are correct.
What is correct:
a) Does the trainee understand that anything…?
or
b) Does the trainee understood that anything…?
Since the verb “does” is present tense, you need to match it with the present tense word “understand.” Therefore, a) is correct.
cuando usas How much does y cuando how much do
If the subject noun is singular, “how much does” is used.
Example: How much does one loaf of bread cost?
If the subject noun is plural, “how much do” is used.
Example: How much do two loaves of bread cost?
How do you explain do VS does with relation to “I”. For example, you say “I do” and not “I does” yet I is singular.
Sometimes the correct usage just has to be memorized. The verb do has two forms in the present indicative: does for the third person singular (he, she, and it) and do for the other subject pronouns (I, you, we, they).
It’s crazy, but something that I was so dead certain about only a few minutes ago appears confusing now.
What do the dog and THE cat have in common?
Or
What does the dog and the cat have in common? (this sounds wrong, and I’m sure it is wrong)
Because we’d say ” What does the dog have in common with the cat?”
The “the” would make a difference.
For eg,
The poet and writer has arrived(same person)
The poet and the writer have arrived.
Okay, I think I’ve got this clear, but it’d be nice if you can confirm!
In your first example, there are two subjects, dog and cat. Therefore, use the plural verb do.
What do the dog and the cat have in common?
In the second example, What does the dog have in common with the cat, there is a singular subject, dog. The singular form does is used. If poet and writer describes only one person, then use the singular verb has.
The poet and writer has arrived.
How often (does/do?) hot rock and clouds of smoke pour from volcanoes?
Since there are two subjects in your sentence connected by and (hot rock and clouds of smoke), use the plural form do.
How often do hot rock and clouds of smoke pour from volcanoes?
These days, I see alot of “go green” campaigns in malls. And behind each toilet doors, it says “When the trees disappear, so DO your toilet papers.” It keeps me wondering is it do/does your toilet papers?
If the plural word papers is used, then the plural verb do is correct.
Then how can you explain this to me:
Every little thing she does is magic
Everything she do just turns me on
Even though my life before was tragic
Now I know my love for her goes on
(By the way lyrics of ‘Everything she does is magic’ from The Police)
Everything is the subject? I’m confused.
Many songs have bad grammar. The line “Everything she do just turns me on” is an error in subject-verb agreement. In this case, the complete subject is Everything she do. The simple subject is everything, and the verb turns agrees with it, which is fine. The verb do, however, does not agree with she. Therefore, the sentence should be written “Everything she does just turns me on.”
When a subject list is connected by ‘or’, is it a singular or plural subject? I’m sure ‘and’ makes it plural, just not positive about ‘or’. Both ‘do’ and does’ sound right to me in this situation.
Also, if ONE of the items in the list is plural does that make the whole subject plural? This is moot if all lists are plural, just wanted to ask in case they weren’t.
Correct/incorrect?: Do Bob or Betty care?
Correct/incorrect?: Do Bob or the managers care?
So glad you’re out here answering these questions!
Our “Subject and Verb Agreement” section of GrammarBook.com’s grammar rules addresses this issue. Rule 1 says, “Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a singular verb.” Therefore, “Does Bob or Betty care?”
Rule 4 says, “When a singular subject is connected by or or nor to a plural subject, put the plural subject last and use a plural verb.” Therefore, “Do Bob or the managers care?”
Question: Do Travelers have good life insurance policy? or Does Travelers have good life insurance?
Since Travelers is the name of an insurance company, it is a singular proper noun, not the plural of the word traveler. Therefore, use the singular verb does.
Does Travelers have good life insurance? Or, more properly, “Does Travelers offer a good life insurance policy?”
Q: In the question: “What does it do?” Why do we say do instead of does?
I know that “What does it does” is wrong but I can’t seem to figure out how to explain why.
Verbs may be classified as principal or auxiliary. A principal verb is one that can stand alone to express an act or state. An auxiliary verb is used with a principal verb to form a verb phrase that indicates mood, tense, or voice. In the question, “What does it do?” do is the main verb and does is the auxiliary. If you turn the question around and say, “It does do what?” you will notice that does acts as an auxiliary. As an auxiliary verb, do or does is always followed by the base form of the main verb, which in this case is do.
Hi,
Your explanation about the use of ‘does’ and ‘do’ is not correct. The correct explanation is as follows:
Use “Does” if the subject is third-person singular (he, she, it, John, Sally, the cat, etc.). Use “Do” everywhere else. Did for past tense.
Regards
Peter
Your explanation also works. There is nothing “incorrect” about my method.
HELP! Which one is correct?
1. What “do” she and her family do on the weekend?
2. What “does” she and her family do on the weekend?
Since there are multiple subjects (she and her family), use the plural form do.
What do she and her family do on the weekend?
Hi,
I need help with the following:
1. I don’t want to see her fail and don’t know why.
2. I don’t want to see her fail and doesn’t know why.
Can you let me know which one is correct and why? Many thanks
The first sentence is correct. The subject I agrees with the verb don’t. You would not say “I doesn’t.” You could also write the compound sentence I don’t want to see her fail, and I don’t know why.
which is correct?
What does she want?
or
What does she wants?
This sentence has the auxiliary verb does, so you need to use the verb want.
What does she want?
what about these sentences? i don’t know which one is correct:
a) She does has a fair skin.
b) She does have a fair skin.
c) Does she have a fair skin?
d) Does she has a fair skin?
e) She does drinks a plenty of water.
f) She does drink a plenty of water.
it is true that b, c and f are correct? why?
The word a is unnecessary in all of your sentences. If you omit the word a, then b, c, and f are correct. You used the auxiliary verb does, therefore, you need to use the verbs have and drink.
She does have fair skin.
Does she have fair skin?
She does drink plenty of water.
Which is correct?
He does things strangely
He do things strangely
The things he do are so strange
The things he does are so strange
Thanks.
The singular subject, he, takes the singular verb, does.
He does things strangely.
The things he does are so strange.
Do exercise allow for patients readiness for discharge?
Does exercise allow for patients readiness for discharge?
Which one is correct?
Thanks
Since the word exercise is a singular noun, use the verb does. Also, the word patients’ is a possessive plural noun (readiness of the patients) and requires an apostrophe. Therefore, to be grammatically correct, the sentence would be, “Does exercise allow for patients’ readiness for discharge?” While grammatically correct, this is an odd sentence as the notion that “exercise allows readiness” does not seem to have much meaning. Perhaps you mean something like, “Does exercise hasten patients’ readiness for discharge?” or “Does exercise facilitate patients’ readiness for discharge?”
Which one is correct?Does anyone of you have an account here or does anyone of you has an account.
Neither is correct. Anyone and any one often get confused. Anyone means “anybody.”
Example: Anyone can learn to play the game.
Any one means “any single member of a group of people or things.”
Example: Can any one of you tell me the answer to my question?
You could write any of the following:
Does any one of you have an account here? OR
Does anyone have an account here? OR
Do any of you have an account here?
Do any of your family know about me. or
Does any of your family know about me.
Do any of your friends know about me. or
Does any of your friends know about me.
The word any is an indefinite pronoun. It can be either singular or plural depending on what it is referring to. In your sentences, any refers to family and friends. Family is a collective noun, which in this case is not acting like a single unit (some family members may know you, some may not) and is therefore plural. The word friends is plural. Both words take the plural verb do. Also, your examples are questions and require a question mark at the end.
Do any of your family know about me?
Do any of your friends know about me?
THANKS JANE
Do or Does yoga and sport psychology concepts effect the cognitive development?
Do or Does??
Thanks.
I am assuming Do since yoga and sport psychology are the subejects…
The subjects of the sentence are yoga and concepts. Sport psychology is a phrasal adjective describing concepts. The rule is to use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and. Also, you need to use the verb affect rather than effect and drop the. Therefore: Do yoga and sport psychology concepts affect cognitive development?
Hi Jane,
First of all I love all your info. It has been a great help for me. I do have a question on this topic. You have stated that “does” is singular and “do” is for plural. My question is as follows:
Which one is correct?
Who better do the bed? John better do bed!
who better does the bed? John better does the bed!
Thank you Jane.
sorry I did not proofread Jane. I meant to say
Who better do the bed? John better do the bed!
who better does the bed? John better does the bed!
I would not recommend use of the word better without using had in formal writing, even though Merriam Webster’s Dictionary recognizes it as such (had betterbetter hurry> ). Also, the word make is a better verb choice than do when referring to preparing a bed. I recommend rewording to the following:
Who had better make the bed? John had better make the bed. OR
Who should make the bed? John should make the bed.
Regarding the verb do, when it is used with an auxiliary, the following is correct:
Who had better do the dishes? John had better do the dishes.
Without the auxiliary verb:
Who does the dishes today? John does the dishes today.
Am confused about ‘What does/do your friends do at weekends’ – I know friends are plural but since there are two ‘dos’ do they both relate to friends or ?
Yes, they both relate to friends. Also, I recommend the phrase on weekends instead of at weekends. Since it is a question, a question mark is required at the end.
What do your friends do on weekends? OR
Your friends do what on weekends?
Oh wait, I can find the answer to my question by applying another comment above based on the third person singular. Very helpful
I am glad you found your answer by looking back through the previous comments.
Aside from computer courses, what courses do/does Harvard University offer/offers?
do/does?
offer/offers?
thanks!
The subject Harvard University is singular, and you would use the singular form does offer in the following example:
Harvard University does offer computer courses.
Aside from computer courses, what courses does Harvard University offer?
hi! i´m a little bit confused with this sentence, so i need your help please.
is it correct to say “These little details does not go unnoticeable”?
i thought the right way to say it was ” these little details do not go ….”
Since the subject is the plural noun details, use the plural verb do. Also, you need to use the adjective unnoticed meaning “without being noticed,” rather than unnoticeable, which means “not easily seen.”
These little details do not go unnoticed.
What about the usage of Do and Does with I? Please quote some examples.
The pronouns I, you, we, and they are always used with the word do. The pronouns he, she, and it are used with does. Examples:
I do think it might rain tomorrow.
You do not have enough gasoline.
We do not want to attend the concert.
They do like yoga.
She does not drive at night.
He does enjoy playing golf.
It does not need to be painted yet.
Hi! Should we write:
(1) Which of these bands do your weekly allowance fall into?
(2) Which of these bands does your weekly allowance fall into?
I think it is (2) but would appreciate your advice. Thanks so much!
You are correct. The subject of the sentence is allowance, so the verb must agree with that word. If you turn the question around to place the subject first, you would say, “Your weekly allowance does fall into which of these bands?”
Which one is right?
do he still writes PANQUIN ?
Or
does he still writes PANQUIN ?
Use the singular verb does with the singular pronoun he. Also, do not use all capital letters in formal writing. Assuming that Panquin is the name of a person, the sentence should be:
Does he still write to Panquin?
First of all I would like to thank you for providing such a valuable information.. I’ve also noticed that you have been answering all our queries since last three years.. It really helped me to understand the use of “do and does” . All I wanted to know is, how can I improve my grammar as well as speaking power ??
Pardon me for the grammatical error.
Thank you for your kind words. We’ve actually been answering reader’s inquiries for almost six years. You are already on the right track to improving your language skills by visiting our website. To improve your grammar and punctuation skills, I recommend reviewing all of the rules and taking the online quizzes. Then read the blogs as well as the questions and answers that go with them. You may also wish to take an English class offered in your community or at a local college.
I always confuse when a sentence starts with “does”, the verb always follows with plural or single. Thank you.
“does she likes me”
or does she like me.
does he play basketball
or does he plays basketball
Does is an auxiliary verb that is used with the principal verb to form a verb phrase. It does not matter whether does comes at the beginning of the sentence or not. If you turn the question around to form a statement, you would say “She does like me,” or “He does play basketball.”
Therefore:
Does she like me?
Does he play basketball?
Perhaps you are confusing the verb forms for the situations where the word does is or is not present at all. For comparison:
“She does like me.” vs. “She likes me.”
“He does play basketball.” vs. “He plays basketball.”
Which is correct? The media does not always follow his advice, or the media do not always his advice?
Both Chicago Manual of Style and AP Stylebook consider the word media plural.
The media do not always follow his advice.
my question is out of topic, but i’m wondering if you can help me explaining why “almost forgot” should be used instead of “almost forget”?
i was really impressed on how you were able to explain the use of do/does. i would really appreciate it if you can help me
more power ms. straus
The word almost is of secondary importance. Forget is present tense and forgot is past tense. For example, When I left my house, I almost forgot my keys. Using the word forget with almost is going to occur more rarely, but, for example, you could use the term if you were asking the question, Did you almost forget your keys?
Always amusing when people make a big to-do over usage.
Hi Jane,
I was quite clear on the rules of do/does. However, I saw an English expert quote at some website:
“if you observe this language it take its own form, if that language is widely used and so does the grammar rules.”
- now “grammar rules” is plural then why the expert has not used “do”.
Is the expert wrong here?
Your comment is highly appreciated.
- Prerna
There are other problems with that sentence but that may be due to typos. Let’s focus on your question. You are correct that the verb in the second part of the sentence should be do instead of does to agree with the noun rules.
Help!
“What kind of books do Patrick need to bring?”
“What kind of books does Patrick need to bring?”
If you turn the sentence around to place the subject first, you would say, “Patrick does need to bring what kind of books?” The subject Patrick is singular, so you need the singular verb does.
What kind of books does Patrick need to bring?
Which is correct?
If your dinner or drink does not come, contact the waiter.
If your dinner or drink do not come, contact the waiter.
Our Rule 1 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “Two singular subjects connected by or or nor require a singular verb.” Therefore, write “If your dinner or drink does not come, contact the waiter.”
This came up in a conversation I had last night. Which is correct in this case?
She better do it.
She better does it.
I’m wondering if there is an even better way to phrase this, like “She had better do it.” Or “She had better complete it.” omitting do or does.
Thanks
In formal writing, using the auxiliary verb had with better in a sentence such as this is preferred. Regarding the verb do, when it is used with an auxiliary, the following is correct:
She had better do it.
Hello,
I would like to know what to use in this sentense and why
Do/does her parents know about it?
Since the word parents is plural, use the plural verb do.
Do her parents know about it?
which one is correct:
i don’t know. doesn’t even want to know.
or
i don’t know. don’t even want to know.
please let me know the correct sentence.
Formal writing:
I do not know and do not even want to know. OR
I do not know. I do not even want to know.
Informal or spoken:
I don’t know and don’t even want to know. OR
I don’t know. I don’t even want to know.
Which one is correct.
What do these dogs do on the farm?
what do these dogs does on the farm?
Since the noun dogs is plural, the verb must also be plural. The plural form is do.
What do these dogs do on the farm?
Hi, I’m hoping you can answer my question. Which is correct…
What does water and EcoStruxure have in common?
or
What do water and EcoStruxure have in common?
Since you have two subjects, use the plural verb do.
What do water and EcoStruxure have in common?
Hello! How would I explain “do vs does” in this example;
What does your girlfriend do exactly?
Verbs may be classified as principal or auxiliary. A principal verb is one that can stand alone to express an act or state. An auxiliary verb is used with a principal verb to form a verb phrase that indicates mood, tense, or voice. In the question, “What does your girlfriend do?” do is the main verb and does is the auxiliary. If you turn the question around and say, “Your girlfriend does do what?” you will notice that does acts as an auxiliary. As an auxiliary verb, do or does is always followed by the base form of the main verb, which in this case is do.
It should be recognized up front that the administration and School Board does not recommend early admission.
Would I use do or does?
Thanks.
Our Rule 6 of Subject and Verb Agreement says, “As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.” The plural form for the auxiliary verb in this case is do. Also, The Chicago Manual of Style’s Rule 8.62 states, “The full names of administrative bodies are capitalized. Adjectives derived from them are usually lowercased, as are many of the generic names for such bodies when used alone…
the Illinois State Board of Education; the board of education
the Ithaca City School District; the school district; the district”
It should be recognized up front that the administration and school board do not recommend early admission.