Mr.Maru: What are you doing today?

Sparky: Ikebana. It's Japanese flower arranging.

Mr.Maru: I see. Don't you think that is a little feminine?

Sparky: Not at all. I love doing the flower arranging. Flowers are beautiful. You want to try?

Mr.Maru: I do like flowers.

Sparky: See? It's fun.

When do we use the do-verb? How can we stress a word with do? What makes the do verb special? Let's talk about some examples and rules.

Do-Verb Basics

The do-verb is usually used to make questions and negative sentences in present or past tense. For example,

I don't like tomatoes.
Sparky didn't clean his room.

Both of these sentences use the do-verb for a negative meaning. To make a negative sentence, we need subject + do-verb + not or n't + verb. For a question, we need to put the do-verb at the beginning. For example,

Do you like tomatoes?
Did Sparky clean his room?

Do-verb for Negative Questions

We can use the do-verb to make negative questions, too. Negative questions are used when we want to express an opinion or confirm a positive or negative belief. We don't have time to go over all the uses of negative questions in this post, but I'll write another post about negative questions soon.  Anyway, we use the do-verb at the beginning of these questions when we are asking about an action. For example,

Didn't you call him yesterday?
Don't you clean your room every weekend?

Do-verb for Extra Emphasis or Stress

We can also use the do-verb to stress or emphasize an action. This is usually used to be clear or correct someone.

A: Why didn't you call him?
B: I did call him. He wasn't home.

A: You don't love me.
B: I do love you. I've always loved you.

It can also be used in the imperative or command form. For example,

Do be careful!
Do read the instructions.

Do-verb for Activities

We use the do-verb with some activities that are work or jobs. For example,

Mr.Maru did the windows and Sparky did the dishes.

It can also be used for martial arts or fitness activities. For example,

Sparky does yoga.
Jenny did karate until she was 18.

Do you think you understand? Let's take a short quiz.

Do-verb quiz

1) _______ take the bus every day?

A) Don't you

B) You do

C) Don't

2) _______ you happy?

A) is

B) do

C) are

3) _______ study English every day.

A) Do I

B) Did I

C) I do

Answers

1) – A) is the best answer. B) is also correct in special cases.

2) – C) We need to use the be-verb when there is no action or verb.

3) – C) is the correct answer. A) and B) are both for questions.

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