My sentence:
people in poor countries use this strategy to make 1 dollar per day. I know it's not a lot of money but they can call it extra income (not Americans or Japanese).
can say: they can do call it extra income?
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2It is not at all clear what are trying to say. "They can call it..." is grammatically correct. "They can do call it" is grammatically incorrect. But I don't know why you focus on what they can call it, and not what it is.... " ... but it is extra income." And I don't know what "Americans or Japanese" is meant to imply at the end.– James KCommented Jun 1, 2021 at 22:39
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I think I'm not able to explain it properly. maybe I'd better to ask it from someone who speaks in my native language! thank for your answer anyway!– vahidCommented Jun 2, 2021 at 11:42
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1 Answer
The "do" form is not simply emphatic, it has the sense of "contrary to your expectation".
I do like dogs!
Doesn't mean "I like dogs very much". It means "Although you think I don't like dogs, you are wrong!"
It is ungrammatical to use "do" in this structure with modals like can, will or might.
I do play tennis (ok). I can play tennis (ok). I can do play tennis (not okay)
In speech the emphasis you want would be made with intonation. This can be indicated in writing by italics:
I can play tennis.
or with adverbs
I really can play tennis.
In your example (which is a little unclear) you can add emphasis with italics.
I know it's not a lot of money but they can call it extra income.
The implication is that "although you think that they can't call it extra income, you are wrong."
In practice I think you need to think about what you want to say. I think "... but it is extra income" is clear and focuses the sentence on what the money is, not what it is called.
