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Tenacious Learner Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Which part of speech is 'does'? (Unit 1)

Hi teacher,

Based on the answer, which part of speech is 'does'? Is it an auxiliary verb?

How often does Julia get to the office late?

She often does it.

Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

<<Based on the answer, which part of speech is ' does '? >> Yes, but it should be simply "She often does" or just "Often" or "Very often". I don't sense that there's any real activity that she does that can be represented by "it", though, strange to say, I might accept "that" in its place: She often does that.

— CalifJim

  • <<Based on the answer, which part of speech is ' does '?
  • >> Yes, but it should be simply "She often does" or just "Often" or "Very often".
  • I don't sense that there's any real activity that she does that can be represented by "it", though, strange to say, I might accept "that" in its place: She often does that.
  • CJ
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15 Answers
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<<Based on the answer, which part of speech is 'does'? Is it an auxiliary verb?>>

Yes, but it should be simply "She often does" or just "Often" or "Very often".

I don't sense that there's any real activity that she does that can be represented by "it", though, strange to say, I might accept "that" in its place: She often
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You're probably thinking this because in the question "does" is an auxiliary verb, in an interrogative construction. However, in the answer "does" is a regular verb (transitive). But the answer is more idiomatic than anything else - instead of giving the number of times she is late, as requested, you blurt out an idiomatic type of expression that emphasizes the frequency of her lateness. You se
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Hi Jim,

Thank you so much for your reply and comentaries.

Best,

TS
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Hi Anonymous.

Thank so much for your reply, explanations, and examples given.

So for you it isn't an auxiliary verb, but a transitive one. If I'm not mistaken, a transitive verb is a verb that requires both a direct subject and one or more objects.

The answer 'She often does.' doesn't have an object. Could you help me understand it please?


TS

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The auxiliary 'does' stands for 'does get'. You can always answer a question with an auxiliary (or modal) by using just the auxiliary (or the modal) and it means the same as if you added the original verb (and the rest of the sentence).

- Can you help?

- I can. (I can help.)

- Is he meeting you tonight?

- He is.
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Hi Jim,

Thank you for your reply and explanations.

The auxiliary 'does' stands for 'does get'. You can always answer a question with an auxiliary (or modal) by using just the auxiliary (or the modal)

I know we can do it with yes/no questions, but can I also answer all wh-questions with 'does' or 'do'?

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I know we can do it with yes/no questions, but can I also answer all wh-questions with 'does' or 'do'?

No. You can't answer them all with 'does' or 'do'!

What if the question is in the past tense? Then you need to answer with 'did'.

Who drove him to work?

Sara did. (No 'does' or 'do'.)
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Hi Jim,

Emotion: embarrassed So sorry, I have expressed myself really badly. Why? Because I know all the examples you have given me and
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How come we can use the verb 'does' in the answer then?

Because you aren't questioning any element of the sentence that is a noun phrase. You're questioning peripheral elements like when, where, and why, and so on - adverbial kinds of things.

"does/do/did that" can pronomialize just about any action that doesn't already have a mo
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Hi Jim,

Thank you very much for you explanation and examples. Yes! You have answered the part about why 'does' is OK.

Let's see if I have really understood the idea. In this case the noun phrase must contain 'an action verb + direct object', with a previous subject of course, in order to be replaced by 'does that / do that / did that'.

I'm not so sure if,
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