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Which of these sentences is correct?

  1. Why does she ask him to stand every time she enters the room?
  2. Why does she ask him to stand every time she enter the room?
  3. Why does she ask him to inform her every time he goes somewhere?

I think the rule is that ‘does’ affects only the verbs that we want to ask about. In this case, only ‘ask’. Can someone tell me if I’m right about that? Thank you!

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It is not about "does" affecting a verb. It is about what the verb is.

The main clause is the question "Why does she ask [...]" The verb phrase here is "does ask", and it is in the third person (does) because the subject is "she"

There are two more dependent clauses. An infinitive clause "to stand" and a dependent clause "every time she enters the room". The verb in this separate clause is "enters" and it is also third person singular. As this clause isn't a question it doesn't have an auxiliary verb.

The form of the verb in each clause is dependent on the subject of that clause, and not on the structure of any other clauses

Why do you ask him to stand every time she enters the room?

Why does she ask him to stand every time I enter the room?

Why does she ask him to stand when she enters the room?

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  • And what about “why does she lie and then act surprise when I get mad?”. In this case the main clause is “why….surprised” so it should be “lie and act”, right?
    – Alon
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 9:54
  • That is a compound verb "lie and act", so rather different from the ones in the Question.
    – James K
    Commented Dec 30, 2021 at 10:09

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