Do-support
Encyclopedia
In English grammar
do-support or do-insertion refers to the use of the auxiliary verb
do in negative or interrogative
clauses that do not contain other auxiliaries.
While the English word do may also serve as a main verb
, as in "We do the laundry on Sundays", do support occurs only in the presence of another verb serving as the main verb, as for example in the conversion of I go there to either the question form Do I go there? or the negative form I do not go there.
Except in copular sentences such as Is he here? or They are not banjo players (and except with the main verb "have", as in Have you any bananas? or I haven't any bananas, which are permissible in some but not all dialects), in English almost all questions and almost all sentences with negative polarity feature an auxiliary verb. Questions and negative sentences that do not include a modal auxiliary
or a form of have or be include a form of do. This auxiliary do is inflected
for person
, number
, and tense
, and may be contracted with not so the latter becomes n't, as in don't, doesn't and didn't. In questions and negatives the auxiliary do has no meaning
in itself, so it is sometimes called a dummy auxiliary.
not after the first auxiliary verb in the sentence. If a sentence has no other auxiliary, a form of the word do is placed where the first auxiliary would otherwise be, with not or n't following it. Compare the following two sentences:
In the first example, the verb flirt appears in the past tense. In the second, related sentence, the past tense form of do, did, and the word not appear before the plain form of the verb. One may think of the past tense as having moved to a position before not, where the auxiliary do is inserted in order to carry it.
s in English are usually formed by placing the first auxiliary at the front of the sentence, before the subject
. If there is no other auxiliary, do occurs in this position.
Occasionally yes-no questions are formed without grammatical changes and hence without do support, by the use of intonation or punctuation alone, as in "John rides the bus?"
So-called Wh-questions, containing an interrogative word
such as who, what, when, where, why, how, or the like, show the same pattern of subject-auxiliary inversion
seen in yes-no questions, and use similar do-support.
Tag question
s are formed with a copy of the first auxiliary and a pronoun
version of the sentence's subject at the end of the sentence. As with other questions, sentences that contain no other auxiliary use do-support.
English grammar
English grammar is the body of rules that describe the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences...
do-support or do-insertion refers to the use of the auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
do in negative or interrogative
Question
A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information may be provided with an answer....
clauses that do not contain other auxiliaries.
While the English word do may also serve as a main verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
, as in "We do the laundry on Sundays", do support occurs only in the presence of another verb serving as the main verb, as for example in the conversion of I go there to either the question form Do I go there? or the negative form I do not go there.
Except in copular sentences such as Is he here? or They are not banjo players (and except with the main verb "have", as in Have you any bananas? or I haven't any bananas, which are permissible in some but not all dialects), in English almost all questions and almost all sentences with negative polarity feature an auxiliary verb. Questions and negative sentences that do not include a modal auxiliary
Modal verb
A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate modality -- that is, likelihood, ability, permission, and obligation...
or a form of have or be include a form of do. This auxiliary do is inflected
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
for person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
, number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
, and tense
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
, and may be contracted with not so the latter becomes n't, as in don't, doesn't and didn't. In questions and negatives the auxiliary do has no meaning
Meaning (linguistics)
In linguistics, meaning is what is expressed by the writer or speaker, and what is conveyed to the reader or listener, provided that they talk about the same thing . In other words if the object and the name of the object and the concepts in their head are the same...
in itself, so it is sometimes called a dummy auxiliary.
Negation
Negative sentences in English are formed by placing the negative adverbAdverb
An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
not after the first auxiliary verb in the sentence. If a sentence has no other auxiliary, a form of the word do is placed where the first auxiliary would otherwise be, with not or n't following it. Compare the following two sentences:
- Jean flirted with Yuri.
- Jean did not flirt with Yuri.
In the first example, the verb flirt appears in the past tense. In the second, related sentence, the past tense form of do, did, and the word not appear before the plain form of the verb. One may think of the past tense as having moved to a position before not, where the auxiliary do is inserted in order to carry it.
Questions
Simple yes-no questionYes-no question
In linguistics, a yes–no question, formally known as a polar question, is a question whose expected answer is either "yes" or "no". Formally, they present an exclusive disjunction, a pair of alternatives of which only one is acceptable. In English, such questions can be formed in both positive...
s in English are usually formed by placing the first auxiliary at the front of the sentence, before the subject
Subject (grammar)
The subject is one of the two main constituents of a clause, according to a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle and that is associated with phrase structure grammars; the other constituent is the predicate. According to another tradition, i.e...
. If there is no other auxiliary, do occurs in this position.
- Jean flirted with Yuri.
- Did Jean flirt with Yuri?
Occasionally yes-no questions are formed without grammatical changes and hence without do support, by the use of intonation or punctuation alone, as in "John rides the bus?"
So-called Wh-questions, containing an interrogative word
Interrogative word
In linguistics, an interrogative word is a function word used for the item interrupted in an information statement. Interrogative words are sometimes called wh-words because most of English interrogative words start with wh-...
such as who, what, when, where, why, how, or the like, show the same pattern of subject-auxiliary inversion
Subject-auxiliary inversion
In English, subject-auxiliary inversion occurs when an auxiliary verb precedes a subject. This is an exception to the English word order convention of subjects preceding their corresponding verbs...
seen in yes-no questions, and use similar do-support.
- 3. Who did Jean flirt with? OR With whom did Jean flirt?
Tag question
Tag question
A question tag or tag question is a grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment . For example, in the sentence "You're John, aren't you?", the statement "You're John" is turned into a question by the tag...
s are formed with a copy of the first auxiliary and a pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
version of the sentence's subject at the end of the sentence. As with other questions, sentences that contain no other auxiliary use do-support.
- 4. Jean flirted with Yuri, didn't he?