PE-10: Present Simple: Negatives and Questions
Meet do and does — the helper verbs that build every Present Simple negative and question, and the golden rule that stops 'she doesn't works'.
PE-10: Present Simple: Negatives and Questions
In PE-6 you saw that to be makes questions by itself: Are you ready? Every
other verb refuses to do that. You cannot say Like you tea? — English sends in a
helper: do and does. Learn how that helper behaves and you can ask about
anything in the present.
In this lesson you will learn
- How to build negatives with don't / doesn't
- How to build questions with Do / Does and answer them shortly
- The golden rule: only one verb in a sentence carries the -s
- Wh- questions, and the special case where do disappears
1. Choosing do or does
The choice copies the rule you already know: he, she, it take does; everybody else takes do.
I don't like coffee. — She doesn't like coffee.
Men qahvani yoqtirmayman. — U qahvani yoqtirmaydi.
2. The golden rule
Think of the -s as a single ball that only one player can hold. In a positive sentence the main verb holds it (she likes). As soon as the helper arrives, the helper takes the ball (does she like?) and the main verb goes bare.
He works here. → He doesn't work here. → Does he work here?
U shu yerda ishlaydi. → U bu yerda ishlamaydi. → U shu yerda ishlaydimi?
Follow the -s: it moves from works onto does, and never appears twice.
3. Short answers
English almost never answers with a bare Yes or No — it repeats the helper. This sounds polite and natural.
Positive
- Do you play chess? — Yes, I do.
- Does he live here? — Yes, he does.
Negative
- Do they know? — No, they don't.
- Does she smoke? — No, she doesn't.
4. Wh- questions
Put the question word at the front; everything else keeps the same order.
Where do you live? What does your father do? When do the lessons start?
Qayerda yashaysan? Otangiz nima ish qiladi? Darslar qachon boshlanadi?
In What does your father do? the first does is the helper and the second do is the real verb ("to do a job").
5. The one question that needs no helper
When your question word is the subject — when you are asking who or what does the action — there is nothing to invert, so do/does disappears and the verb keeps its -s.
Asking about the object — helper needed
Who does Afsona help?
(Afsona helps somebody — who?)
Asking about the subject — no helper
Who helps Afsona?
(Somebody helps Afsona — who?)
6. Common mistakes
She doesn't likes vegetables.
She doesn't like vegetables.
Do she speak English?
Does she speak English?
Where you live? / Where do you live in?
Where do you live?
I not know his name.
I don't know his name.
Who does want tea?
Who wants tea? (who is the subject)
Practice
1 Make it negative: Sherbek watches TV in the evening.
Show answer
Sherbek doesn't watch TV in the evening.
The -s moves onto the helper (does), so watches becomes the bare watch.
2 Make a question: Your parents speak Russian.
Show answer
Do your parents speak Russian? Parents is plural → do, and the verb stays bare.
3 Answer shortly: Does Afsona play the piano? (yes) — Do you like maths? (no)
Show answer
Yes, she does. — No, I don't.
Repeat the helper, never the main verb. Yes, she plays. is not a short answer.
4 Which is right? (a) Who does teach you English? (b) Who teaches you English?
Show answer
(b) Who teaches you English? Who is the subject of the sentence, so no helper is used and the verb keeps its -s.
5 Find and fix two mistakes: Does your brother works in Tashkent? — No, he don't.
Show answer
Does your brother work in Tashkent? — No, he doesn't.
(1) The main verb loses the -s after does. (2) The short answer must match the helper: he → doesn't.
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Helper (auxiliary) verbyordamchi feʼl
- Negativeinkor gap
- Question formsoʻroq shakli
- Short answerqisqa javob
- Wh- questionsoʻroq soʻzli savol
- Bare verbqoʻshimchasiz feʼl
- Subject questionegaga savol
- Word ordersoʻz tartibi
- To invertoʻrnini almashtirmoq
- Politelyxushmuomalalik bilan
🎯 Remember this
- Negative: don't / doesn't + bare verb. Question: Do / Does + subject + bare verb?
- The -s is one ball: if does holds it, the main verb cannot.
- Short answers repeat the helper: Yes, he does. No, they don't.
- Wh- word first, then the same order: Where do you live?
- If who/what is the subject, use no helper: Who wants tea?
- To be never uses do: Are you ready?, not
Do you are…