Present Simple: Auxiliries Do & Does

Have a look a this slide show explaining when the Simple Present is used, then do the activities that follow.

4. The auxiliary Do 
With the exception of the verb to be, verbs in modern English use the auxiliary do to form questions and negative statements in the Simple Present.
The Simple Present of the verb to do is conjugated as follows:

I do

you do

he does

she does

it does

we do

they do

Auxiliaries are verbs which are combined with other verbs to form various tenses. It should be noted that when an auxiliary is combined with another verb, it is the auxiliary which must agree with the subject, while the form of the other verb remains invariable.

When the auxiliary do is combined with another verb, the other verb always has the form of the bare infinitive.

a. Questions

In order to form a question in the Simple Present of any verb other than the verb to be, the Simple Present of the auxiliary do is added before the subject, and the bare infinitive of the verb is placed after the subject. For example:

Affirmative Statement	Question
I work.	Do I work?
You work.	Do you work?
He works.	Does he work?
She works.	Does she work?
It works.	Does it work?
We work.	Do we work?
They work.	Do they work?

See Exercise 6.

6. Change the following affirmative statements into questions. For example:
      She walks to work.
      Does she walk to work?

      They take the bus.
      Do they take the bus?

1. I hurry home.
2. He drives a truck.
3. You follow the news.
4. They want a pet.
5. She likes flowers.
6. We need tea.
7. She answers the questions.
8. He drinks coffee.
9. I learn quickly.
10. It rains heavily.

b. Negative statements

In order to form a negative statement, the Simple Present of the auxiliary do followed by the word not is placed before the bare
infinitive of the verb. For example:

Affirmative Statement	Negative Statement
I work.	I do not work.
You work.	You do not work.
He works.	He does not work.
She works.	She does not work.
It works.	It does not work.
We work.	We do not work.
They work.	They do not work.

See Exercise 7.


7. Change the affirmative statements given in Exercise 6 into negative statements. For example:
She walks to work.
She does not walk to work.

They take the bus.
They do not take the bus.

In spoken English, the following contractions are often used:

Without contractions	With contractions
do not	don't
does not	doesn't

c. Negative questions

To form a negative question, the Simple Present of the auxiliary do is placed before the subject, and the word not followed by the bare infinitive is placed after the subject. However, when contractions are used, the contracted form of not follows immediately after the Simple Present of the auxiliary do. For example:

Without contractions	With contractions
Do I not work?	Don't I work?
Do you not work?	Don't you work?
Does he not work?	Doesn't he work?
Does she not work?	Doesn't she work?
Does it not work?	Doesn't it work?
Do we not work?	Don't we work?
Do they not work?	Don't they work?

Exercise 8

8. Change the affirmative statements given in Exercise 6 into negative questions. Give both the forms without contractions, and the forms with contractions. For example:
      She walks to work.
      Does she not walk to work?
      Doesn't she walk to work?

      They take the bus.
      Do they not take the bus?
      Don't they take the bus?

d. Tag questions

The auxiliary do or does is used for a tag question which follows a statement containing the Simple Present of a verb other than the verb to be. In the following examples, the negative tag questions are underlined. Contractions are usually used in negative tag questions.

Affirmative Statement	Affirmative Statement with Tag Question
I work.	I work, don't I?
You work.	You work, don't you?
He works.	He works, doesn't he?
She works.	She works, doesn't she?
It works.	It works, doesn't it?
We work.	We work, don't we?
They work.	They work, don't they?

See Exercise 9.

9. Add negative tag questions to the affirmative statements given in Exercise 6. Use contractions for the tag questions. For example:
      She walks to work.
      She walks to work, doesn't she?

      They take the bus.
      They take the bus, don't they?

e. The verb To Have

It should be noted that, particularly in British English, in the case of the Simple Present and Simple Past of the verb to have, questions and negative statements are sometimes formed in the same way as for the verb to be, without the use of the auxiliary do.
e.g. He has a sister, hasn't he?