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Which one is correct? Which of the following statements is grammatically correct, and why?

  • Please! Do call me.

  • Please! Call me.

And, If someone asks you: "Will you call me?" What should I say? Which one is best way to answer this question?

  • Yes, I shall.

  • Yes, I shall call.

  • Yes.

And, Are the following statements correct? And why? These are two statements given below. Which one of them is correct?

  • Does he do all those things?

  • does he does all those things?

Any help will be appreciated.

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  • What exactly is your question? It seems you have three different questions..... Please, do be explicit!
    – None
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:27
  • No, They are some doubts which irritate me while speaking. So, I am checking whether I speak correctly or not. You can say that they are 3 similar type of questions. thanks.
    – hellodear
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:29
  • These are not three similar questions, without any explanations from your part stating what the common problem is, they look totally different. I would say the common point is you are having problems dealing with them, but that is not an option for whoever will try and explain something to you.
    – None
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:37
  • I have edited the question. Check if you find it correct now.
    – hellodear
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:42

2 Answers 2

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Question 1

Both statements are correct, though they have different emphasis. When you say:

Please! Call me.

You're simply asking someone to call you. If you add "do", making it:

Please! Do call me.

Then, there's an implication that the other person may not call -- they may be forgetful or unwilling -- and you're emphasizing that you want them to make sure they call you.

Question 2

I speak American English, so I'm going to substitute "will" for "shall", since it's more common in American English. All the following statements are correct and have essentially the same meaning:

Yes.
Yes, I will.
Yes, I'll call.

The three answers may vary slightly in terms of formality, but it's not a significant difference (shorter answers and answers with contractions are ever so slightly less formal).

Question 3

Only the first sentence is correct:

Does he do all those things?

When constructing a sentence starting with "Does he/she...", you use the base form of the infinitive (e.g. "to do" -> "do").

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6
  • "He does all those things." This is the answer it could have. So, When I will frame a question, then shouldn't it be like this? "does he does all these things" and then answer is: "Yes! he does all those things." Please correct me where I am wrong. Secondly, Can you explain the term "infinitive" as you used in your answer?
    – hellodear
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:51
  • @hellodwar2 I understand your thinking, but that's just not the rule in English. You say, "Does he do all these things?" Remember that the first "does" agrees with "he"... You'd say "Do I" or "Do we", so it would be strange to conjugate the second verb as well.
    – godel9
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:54
  • When you say: Do they do all those things? Answer is: Yes! They do all those things. But, here it is not correct? Why?
    – hellodear
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:56
  • "Does he do..." And "Do they do" are correct. The first "do" is being conjugated but not the second. That's just the rule. The infinitive is the form of the verb that is preceded by "to". The base infinitive is the infinitive minus "to".
    – godel9
    Jan 8, 2014 at 16:59
  • 3
    @hellodear2 It is important to follow the rules to speak English well, but it is not necessary to know the rules. At least in the US, very few native speakers know the rules, because they are taught very little grammar in school (and most of that is wrong). But because they have been immersed in the language since childhood, they know how to say things without knowing the formal rules. You don't have that advantage, so learning the rules provides a shortcut for you, a substitute for experience.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Jan 8, 2014 at 17:40
2

Question 1:

"Please, call me." <-- this is how I would say it. I would avoid using exclamation marks because it sounds very demanding or panicked (unless its an emergency situation)

Question 2:

"Will you call me?" <-- though this question is grammatically correct, it is not natural sounding and I have never heard it said this way.. ever.. It sounds better to say: "CAN you call me, please?" or "Please, call me."

For the answer, again, "shall" might be grammatically correct, but I would never say that and I have nevvverrrr heard that. All of the following are correct:

  • Yes.
  • Yes, I will.
  • Yes, I will call. = Yes, I'll call.
  • Yes, I will call you. = Yes, I'll call you.

Question 3:

I would say: "Does he do all of those things?"

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