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Jack112 Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Doesn't / Don't

Is only #2 correct here? I did a google search and with 'don't' I have 10 times more results. Why is that?

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22why+don%27t+one+of+you+guys%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta =

1. Why don't one of you guys do it?

2. Why doesn't one of you guys do it?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Now, this is a really interesting one, Jack. I am sure that most native speakers say #1, because they are speaking to several people ('you').

  • Now, this is a really interesting one, Jack.
  • I am sure that most native speakers say #1, because they are speaking to several people ('you').
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9 Answers
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Now, this is a really interesting one, Jack. I am sure that most native speakers say #1, because they are speaking to several people ('you').
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So they both don't have the same meaning? #1 for a group? #2 for a particular person?
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No, they mean the same. What I find interesting is that in use the grammatically correct one doesn't is overriden by the logic of the situation.
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Dear friends,

It is interesting. There are many examples. Many are illiterate in other ways. It is most strange if we are to regard them as arbiters of language.

I do not know that we need heed them.
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Would it be the same with "to be"?

1. Why isn't one of you guys opening the bottles?

2. Why aren't one of you guys opening the bottles?

I don't think 2. would be that frequent...
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Aren't gets twice as many google hits (why isn't/aren't one of you). Candidly-- I habitually use the second person verb form, I'm afraid.

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And do they open the bottles?

I guess my English needs a little revamping... Emotion: smile
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There is a word for it: notional concord.
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I can only hear "why don't one of you" as an otherworldly AmE idiom. "Doesn't" seems the only natural form to me.

Interestingly, "is one of you guys" gets more hits than "are one of you guys". And "why doesn't one of them" gets more than "why don't one of them".

I suppose we might also interpret the "don't" as a notional concord with a singular "you": when you say "why don't one

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