43
votes
"I told you DON´T go" vs. "I told you NOT TO go"
The second sentence is correct, all of the tenses are in agreement.
In the first sentence, "I told you" refers to a past event, but "don't" refers to a future event. You could make the sentence ...
- 5,726
34
votes
"How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?"
Both of these are perfectly correct. You could also say "How many psychologists are necessary to change a light bulb?" or "How many psychologists are required to change a light bulb?"
However, as ...
- 486
32
votes
"Do never..." vs. "Do not ever..."
We can say things like:
Don't ever text while driving. Don't ever do such a foolish and dangerous thing!
Never text while driving. Never do such a foolish and dangerous thing!
But we don't ...
- 137k
26
votes
Why can't you say don't instead of won't?
So what you seem to be having trouble with are tenses. The present simple tense can be used for things that happen regularly, sometimes, or never, but also for commands.
Don't do that!
I sometimes do ...
- 598
24
votes
"What does prevent x from doing y?" OR "What prevents x from doing y?"
Generally speaking, you don't need auxiliary "do"-verbs in questions if the wh-word is the subject of the main verb.
In this case, "what" is the subject of "prevent", so ...
- 51.1k
23
votes
Accepted
On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake
The emphasis would be used if you are contradicting someone, or giving information that is the opposite of what is believed.
{two people are describing their trip to Japan}
We were in Japan ...
- 231k
21
votes
Accepted
Which one is correct : 'does it worth all the trouble ?' or 'is it worth all the trouble ?'
Worth may be a noun or an adjective, but not a verb. In your context it is a predicate adjective, almost invariably employed with BE:
This house is worth one million dollars.
It is worth the ...
- 176k
16
votes
Accepted
Isn't the word "experience" wrongly used in this context?
Experience is fine. The problem is the done. You don't do an experience1. You have an experience.
I have had that experience.
That's what he should have said. Or, alternatively, just relied on do ...
- 22.9k
13
votes
"Do never..." vs. "Do not ever..."
never and not ever are almost equivalent, but there are some restrictions on the use of the latter.
As for do never, in this context it's an oxymoron- two words used together that have, or seem to ...
- 61.4k
13
votes
"How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?"
"It takes x to y" is extremely common, and I'm surprised that you haven't met it before. It is certainly not confined to light-bulb jokes! It means "x is necessary in order to y." Here are some ...
- 1,436
12
votes
"I told you DON´T go" vs. "I told you NOT TO go"
Consider a simpler sentence:
I like ice cream.
When we want to negate this, in English, we need "do", which is called an auxiliary verb. Just adding "not" is not enough.
*I not like ice cream.
...
- 7,361
12
votes
"What does prevent x from doing y?" OR "What prevents x from doing y?"
Case 2 is the more usual form. Case 1 could be used in very limited instances, in the form of a question, with an emphasis on does, to challenge an assumption that x is prevented from doing y.
- 306
11
votes
Why can't you say don't instead of won't?
In English, it's customary to use the simple future, for making promises, especially promises made on the spur of the moment.
Mother: Be careful driving the car
19-year-old son: I will, Mum.
...
- 28.9k
11
votes
Why can't you say don't instead of won't?
The imperative in English uses the same form as the bare infinitive:
Play tennis!
Be good!
Don't watch TV.
You can see in the last example that when forming an imperative with a negative verb, ...
- 231k
11
votes
Accepted
"What does prevent x from doing y?" OR "What prevents x from doing y?"
Your gut is right.
If your interrogative pronoun is an object, then you get inversion with a dummy auxiliary "do":
Cats chase mice → What do cats chase?
But if the pronoun is a subject, ...
- 231k
9
votes
"How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?"
Yes, because "take" can mean "require."
If three psychologists are standing in line, it's like taking one out of the line to change the light bulb. "It" standing for the task.
It's informal, but it ...
- 127
9
votes
On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake
There may be a circumstances for composing a sentence that way, but not for the reason of emphasis like you ask.
If you want to add extra emphasis to the sentence:
On June 18th, I experienced my ...
- 111k
8
votes
"How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?"
You appear to have misidentified the subject of the sentence. In questions, word order is often inverted.
The subject of the sentence is the word "it," not "many" or "psychologists." The verb must ...
- 454
7
votes
"Do never..." vs. "Do not ever..."
And is "never" a contraction of "not ever"?
No, but you're close. Never is a compound of "ne (meaning not) + ever, but not a contraction.
Source: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=never
- 180
7
votes
Which one is correct : 'does it worth all the trouble ?' or 'is it worth all the trouble ?'
The common idiomatic phrase is "Is it worth X?" or even the seemingly tautological "Is it worth it?" In this case you have to figure out the meaning of the pronouns from context. For example:
...
- 88.5k
6
votes
Simple present or progressive present wiht "say"?
(1) What does the book say? is by far the most natural. A book isn't in the process of saying something; the information is already printed there.
For (2), both tenses might be possible, if the ...
- 61.4k
5
votes
On June 18th, I did experience my first earthquake
Using "did" as an auxiliary like this is (in my experience) very rare. It cannot simply be used in the same places as "didn't", because the "did" there is really just a helper for the "not".
As ...
- 4,376
5
votes
Grammar: How many does it costs?
Neither is grammatical.
A "cost" or "price" is uncountable, so the only acceptable form is
How much does it cost?
You could say "How many dollars/pounds/euros does it cost?&...
- 77.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Is this sentence grammatically correct - voice use?
Your colleague is quite right.
The issue is not the voice — both versions are in the active voice — but the word order: in a question, we invert the subject ("you") and auxiliary verb ("did"). ("You ...
- 4,717
4
votes
Question format using did
Yes, there is a different between your two sentences. The difference is that the first sentence is not grammatical (it's simply wrong). Only the second one is grammatical. In English, when you're ...
- 37.7k
3
votes
Shoud I use "did" or "does" in conjunction with "during this week"?
Using "did" would mean that the week has now come to an end and you want to know if the student had submitted his paper within the course of the week. Using does is implying a future action that the ...
- 61
3
votes
Accepted
Difference "he didn't be a doctor" and "he wasn't a doctor"?
In the grammatical sentence
He wasn't a doctor
the first auxiliary verb (was) is contracted with not to form wasn't.
That's the way the rule goes: Not may contract with the first auxiliary verb in a ...
- 2,840
3
votes
Can I say " There do be something"?
Short answer: No, it's not right.
Long answer: There DID not be such a sentence, then, in modern English.
Note that all your "Do be..." sentences are the imperative "do". That is, they're commands.
...
- 3,798
3
votes
Accepted
Do I have to add a question mark to a statement?
In real English speech, interrogative sentences end with the voice shifting higher in pitch. The question mark symbolizes this.
When speaking, you can do this with anything, to indicate that you ...
- 37k
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