English Grammar: Should you use DO or BE?
Should you say "Where do you from?" or "Where are you from?" Is the correct question "What do you do?" or "What are you do?" Are both forms correct, or is one of them completely wrong? In this lesson, I will erase your doubts about this common problem English learners have when they start forming questions. Are you ready? Do you want to improve your English grammar? Are you going to watch the lesson?
www.engvid.com/english-grammar...
TRANSCRIPT
Hi, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this beginner lesson on questions with "do" and "be". This is a very common problem, a very common question that students, who are learning English for the first time, ask. "When do I use 'be' and when do I use 'do'? Especially when I'm asking questions."
So, first, what I'm going to do is actually just to go through these with you, and see what your natural instinct tells you, and afterwards, I'm going to explain the rules which are behind me, and we'll explain why, you know, these answers are the answers that we gave.
For example, number one:
"Where _______ you from?"
Do we say: "Where are you from?" or "Where do you from?" - "Where are you from". That's one of the most common questions, so you probably knew that one.
"What _______ you do?"
"What are you do?", "What do you do?" - "What do you do". Not: "What are you do".
"_______ you want to go?"
"Do you want to go?", "Are you want to go?" Okay? "Do you".
"How old _______ he?"
"How old does he?", "How old is he?" - "How old is he". Okay?
"_______ she a student?"
"Does she a student?", "Is she a student?" - "Is she a student". Okay?
"_______ you happy?"
"Do you happy?" or "Are you happy?" - "Are you happy".
"Where _______ you going?"
"Where do you going?" or "Where are you going?" - "Where are you going".
And finally:
"_______ he here?"
"Is he here?" or "Does he here?" - "Is he here". "Is he here?"
Okay, so do you notice anything common about some of these questions when we use "do" and when we use "be"? The ones with "be" are a little more complicated, so let's look at the two examples we have with "do", and you can tell me what is the same; what is common to these two questions.
"What do you do?", "Do you want to go?" Number one: one is an open question; one is a yes or no question. But they still have something in common. Specifically, they both use a verb: "do" and "want". So, here, you see: "What do you do?" Base verb. "Do" is a base verb. "Do you want to go?", "want" is a base verb. So, this is the basic, basic rule when you're using questions with "do" or "did" if you're speaking in the past. If you want to ask a question that uses an action, a base action, always use "do" or "did", if you're speaking in the past. "Where did you go?", "What do you do?", "Who did you see?", "What do you want?" These types of questions where you have an action, a base verb, always use "do" or "did".
Now, "be" can be used in many more situations than "do". It's much more versatile in that way. So, let's look at the rules. Like I said, for "do", you can ask the question word, "do" or "did" plus the subject, plus the base verb. And we can say "do" is only for actions. Only use it with actions, only with base verbs.
Now, "be", you have your question, you have the verb "to be", which can be "am", "is", "are", "was", "were", "will be" even. You have your subject: "I", "you", "he", "she", "it", "we", "they", and then you have a number of different parts of speech and functions that you can use. So, you can ask a question about age with the verb "to be": How old are you? "I am", whatever your age is. You can use actions with the questions with the verb "be", but they can only be continuous actions. So: "Where are you going?" Right? "What are you doing?" So you can add verb+ing, present continuous.
You can ask questions with adjectives: "Are you happy?" You can ask questions with nouns or jobs, for example: "Is he a student?", "Are you a teacher?" I am... You don't say "I do", but you would say: "I am an engineer", for example.
And finally, you can use "be" with prepositions and adverbs. And when I say adverbs and prepositions, sometimes they relate to locations, adverbs specifically. So: "Is he here?" And again, "here" is an adverb, and it refers to a space, a location. So you don't say: "Do you here?" or "Does he here?" but: "Is he here?", "Are you here?" And same with prepositions. So, in the first question: "Where are you from?", "from" is, again, a preposition, so you would use the verb "to be" in this situation.
So let's look at these. We have "from", which is a preposition. "How old is he?" Here, we're asking about age. "Is she a student?", "student" is a noun. "Are you happy?", "happy" is an adjective. "Where are you going?" This is verb+ing, "going". And: "Is he here?", "here" is an adverb.
Пікірлер: 774
If you like this video, check out my channel and don’t forget to subscribe! If you want more grammar videos, I recommend checking this one out: kzread.info/dash/bejne/i5qu1rijZbTdoc4.html You can also check out FREE quizzes for all of my videos on our main website: www.engvid.com Finally, if you’d like a free audio book to practice your listening, sign up for a free 30-day trial with Audible. Check it out here: audibletrial.com/engvidalex Thanks for studying with me and with EngVid!
@HabibRahman-bl2fl
6 жыл бұрын
Thanks my dear Teachre...
@ghenasghenas9123
5 жыл бұрын
Can you teatche us a question with " have"
@ayaanfaarax4310
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks you
@gyatrigyatri5892
5 жыл бұрын
Very nice thank you sir I am proud of you.
@Dark-Dragon-1013
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks, this was my question
this is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
You are one of a few teachers who explain this topic in a completely way! Right now a get it. Thanks so much
Was trying to explain this to my husband, however it's been a long time since i've studied English and the only thing i came up with was "using do/does only in questions regarding some actions". I've looked for other explanations, as he was still confused, and came across your video. Your way of teaching and explaining is admirable! Thanks a lot for helping us both! Will definitely subscribe to your channel!
@engvidAlex
3 жыл бұрын
I’m so glad I could help you and your husband! Cheers from Canada! 😃
@myhaAa
3 жыл бұрын
Cheers from Bulgaria! :) We're already big fans of yours.
Thank you so much for this lesson . Really useful , essential . Everything now is clear super thanks again!!! Even I don’t understand “base verb” but I understand “ only use Do for action “
My compliments for actually explaining the structures, so many others just do not highlight the differences!
Perfect explanation! Congratulations, teacher and thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Hi! I am an english teacher here in Brazil and this video really helped me to prepare a lesson! You're excelent! Thanks ;)
I struggled to find a rule for this question. You explained it really nicely. Thank you
hello mr. Alex! I love all your Inglish classes. I'm Spanish speaking, I love to see your channel every time, thanks so much!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Mendoza Tapia I'm happy to hear that. Thank you so much for clicking!
Terrific lesson as always Alex. ANY level of student would benefit from revising the formation of questions!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Cleona Patterson (eFluentEnglish) Precisely. :) Thank you!
@CleonaPattersoneFluentEnglish
8 жыл бұрын
Look forward to more videos, keep up the good work!
@eRmexMusic
Жыл бұрын
7 years old but still gold. I've come here to revise some "intuitive" thing in my mind about English that I had leant years ago :D
Parabéns, Alex! Você fala bem devagar, bem pausado. Entendi quase tudo!!!
Excellent! This is perfect for my class - and an excellent listening exercise too.
Thank you so much for your explanation, congrats!! ❤
@engvidAlex
Күн бұрын
You're so welcome!
I am an arabic person and I understood the lesson clearly thank you mr. Alex
These are the kinds of things people take for granted when they´re studying english. thanks. I really like the way you explain out your lessons. paused and methodical.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Learn Speaking fast 1 month with Bacitikdaithanh Thank you very much. I agree that many people just take things like this for granted, which is why I wanted to focus on it.
@Amber-hd3px
8 жыл бұрын
+Learn Speaking fast 1 month with Bacitikdaithanh had confusion regarding this but thanks to you for clarifying it. I am from Indian and it is the Teachers day here so Happy Teachers Day sir. Thank you so much again.
@phanthanhnhut4678
8 жыл бұрын
+Learn Speaking fast 1 month with Bacitikdaithanh And you speak any foreign language? Please explain why you put the word "do"?
I am so happy, I am learning what I did not understand in class, you have taught me, thank you brother
love your channel!keep going!you are really good teacher!
Hi, my name is Christian. I’m also an English Teacher on KZread, I think you are very clear.
this is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks, teacher!
Thank you very much, Alex! I was thinking about it for all day)))
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Azizjan Ayupov That's great to hear! Keep on studying!
I've started to teach english recently and this video helped me a lot! This topic involves the most common mistakes and questions of the students. Thank you so much for helping!
@engvidAlex
5 жыл бұрын
My pleasure! I made it after getting similar questions from students in the beginner levels.
@sameerkapoor823
Жыл бұрын
@@engvidAlex I have a question to u. Mr Alex solve it. For example. The book might have been read. Which tense it is. I think it is modal + perfect+ passive passive of perfect infinitive because
@sameerkapoor823
Жыл бұрын
Passive is being made. Why do we use third form with have.
Thank you very much for the explanation, I was really confused about using BE or Do in a question.
Great explanation! I'm brazilian and I'm learning English. Your videos are awesome!! Thank you.
Thank you Mr.Alex
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Gadeed Mofeed Any time.
Thank you so much teacher I was so confused how to use them. But now, I could understand because of your clear explanation.
With no doubt! I think this was one of the most important video for me. Thanks a lot, Alex!
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
No problem, Marcio! Thanks for watching!
How are you doing dear mr. Alex? You are my the likest teacher in the engvid! Your explanations are so clear, suitable and fit for me. Thank you so very much for your useful work!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Алексей Баринов Not a problem. Thank you very much for your support!
@dongle8710
8 жыл бұрын
+Алексей Баринов when i am begin to learn english. i was watching video by AlexESLVid. thank for your help( Alex and teacher in Engvid). my life is brilliant when i know other people on the earth talk and share. thank a lot. at the moment, no word can describe my think.:D
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Dong Le "No words can describe my thoughts." :)It's important to feel like you are connected to the language and to the teachers.
@dongle8710
8 жыл бұрын
+English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid) ok. thank you.:D
Perfect. I watched many videos in Spanish but I didn’t understand in my language. And I understood it with your explanation in English. Thank you so much.
@engvidAlex
5 жыл бұрын
That's such a nice compliment! Thank you, Gabriela. I'm glad it's clear. :)
thank you it was a wonderful lesson....really grateful..
Thanks a lot, Alex, the nice job!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+ Татьяна Афанасьева Thanks for watching!
I was confused between do and be and suddenly i found your video which made my day.Thanks to u teacher to solve my problem.
Really valuable information, thanks teacher!!
@engvidAlex
2 ай бұрын
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for explaining
thank you, I've been searching an explanation for months. It's earier than I thought
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
Awesome! It's not as bad as some people think. :)
Thank you Alex I benefited a lot from your lesson!
Thanks a lot sir, you are a great teacher 💫🌟
Thank you! It was very helpful! I'm not a native speaker but I teach young students and I couldn't find the reason for this rule so thank you for the clear explanation:)
Thank you sir, i have so many doubts but when i watched your video, it clears all my doubt
Great teacher! thank you Alex!
By coincidence, I saw this video this morning, when making my lesson plan. Then, in the evening, I decided to see how good my new mic is, by doing some tongue twisters.... and surprise, surprise, guess who made a list of 50? (though honestly, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream." is not really a tongue twister, but 50 was a big promise, so whatever.) Good job Alex, you gave me the info that nobody seemed to plainly say
Alex you are the best teacher in the world! Perfect teacher! I wish you God blessing and long life!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Larisa Jääskeläinen Thank you so much. I truly appreciate it.
Wonderful lesson! I really appreciate your channel. You've been helping me a lot, because it's always good to get more knowledge. Thanks for this great lesson and keep up the awesome work.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Adriano Adkins Not a problem. As always, thanks for watching! I'm glad you're learning from these videos. :)
@sureskahahshs4026
4 жыл бұрын
k ha
@sureskahahshs4026
4 жыл бұрын
Laila Noor Mohammad Noor Mohammad public
Thank you 👏🏼
Thank you amigo!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Erik Garcia No problem, Erik. :) Thanks for watching.
I love this lesson. Thanks teacher!
Fantastic. Thanks for this video.🇧🇷💜
@engvidAlex
Ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you the nice explanation! Somehow I did not know the rule, however I continued to use the wrong "do" for everything. It makes sence! Thank you!
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
No problem! I'm glad I could help.
Hi Alex, thank you for amazing explanation.
Hi, Alex! Thank you for good theme:)
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Anna Verbitskaya No problem. :) Thanks for clicking.
Excellent class! Thank you!
Examples and explainations are very clear . thankyou alex
I love you, you saved my life! Or at least, my class from confusion.
@milindshukla5151
4 жыл бұрын
Hii
Very interesting, I like it a lot. I will listen again. Thank you very much!
@engvidAlex
Ай бұрын
Thanks for listening!
Thanks for clicking, everyone! Just a reminder that you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook: facebook.com/alex.engvid Twitter: twitter.com/alexengvid Finally, if you would like to support EngVid, you can donate at this link: www.engvid.com/support We truly appreciate every donation we receive. Thank you for studying with us.
@waewdaoyodpimai8102
8 жыл бұрын
good
@paulomarciano4554
8 жыл бұрын
ok
@mohamadkdalaarab6442
7 жыл бұрын
Thank you sir 💖
@atizaeugene6922
6 жыл бұрын
English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid) so I want you give me homework after each lesson
@saoleksann1390
6 жыл бұрын
English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid ់)
Thanks for your lessons, man! Very simple and understandable! From Russia with love!
you are a really good teacher!sigh, I always forget "a" and "the"
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Patricia Wong It's a common mistake. :)
thank. you. for lessons.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Granush Sevumyants No problem. Thanks a lot for watching, and I hope to see you again.
peace and love from Egypt
you're great teacher Alex. Thank you :)
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Max Djj Thank you very much! :)
Thank you so very much for making this helpful tutorial.
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
My pleasure! I'm glad it's helping people.
sometime questions could be made with Have.... confusing . Thanks anyway Alex your lessons are always clear and easy to understand
@losvoyamatar_0u0
5 жыл бұрын
present perfect
My understanding is if the sentence include the "notional verb" in we can use do/does/did, if no notional verb ,use be "am/is are/was/were.
Great lesson! Thank you so much!
surely this lesson erase my long time doubt sir,before that i am very confusing for whichone is used do/be verbs,but now my problem sloved,thank u so much sir
Teacher thank you so much, your explanation was awesome, you are the best 👌❤Never before in my life, had I been so clear about the Do and Be as now. Thank you again you are awesome.
Awesome ! The best explanation of this topic I’ve ever seen!
@engvidAlex
5 жыл бұрын
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.
Thanks a lot Alex! Very usefull lesson for me. Really I thought I never figure out when use do or be. I always used my intuition but turn out unbelivable you show us a rule in Englisg!! Wow!
@xloygr1605
8 жыл бұрын
+Xloy GR This video made my day!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Xloy GR I'm really happy to hear that! :) That's the whole reason I make these videos.
Thank you Teacher.Big hug.
Bonus points if you recognize my t-shirt!
@winglessfowl9263
8 жыл бұрын
+English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid) Please clarify whether to use the following sentence this way or the other? I understand the difficulties of the students. or I understand the difficulty of the students. Any commenter here can reply please if u know. Which one is correct and why? I think the second one sounds good. Please sir.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Nahid Ahmed See above. :)
@astronoybrasil7990
8 жыл бұрын
+Nahid Ahmed I think both are correct... one word you are using in the plural form.
@winglessfowl9263
8 жыл бұрын
Thank you sir.
@winglessfowl9263
8 жыл бұрын
English Lessons with Alex (engVid AlexESLvid) Thanks a lot sir.
Awesome! Exactly what I was looking for.
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
I'm glad you found it! Thanks for checking out the video, Artur.
Sometimes I really get confused, with all these verbs and so forth. For instance, when you are including slangs or dialects etc., where someone is saying "Where is you from?" instead of "Where are you from?", because if you re-think this sentence construction, "is" represents singular where the "are" is for "plurale". The same goes with continuing in simple past with "didn't", like "Why didn't you go(ne) to school?", that is some confusion about the english formulation and building progress of a sentence. Nonetheless, "are" is also present tense, but at the same time it is very confusing for non-native english speakers. Also, what has confused me is "You good" instead of "You are good", why would there be an "are" in the first place? I reckon there are just grammatical and both correct(?) Another important point that "like" is less formal than "for example/instance" using instead, this is something I need to adjust in the future.
Exactly what I want to learn. Thank you
He do be spittin straight facts
It's very simply. Thank's a lot!
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Sergey Mitrofanov "It's very simple." You're welcome. :)
Thanks Alex, your explanation very clear
Thank you for your sharing.
@engvidAlex
5 жыл бұрын
My pleasure. Thank you for studying with EngVid. :)
Great!. At last I understand this matter, simple and useful. Thanks.
Thank you so much sir, It is really helpful.
Thank you for your lesson. This video helps me to learn English.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+edison drh I'm happy to hear that! Thanks for clicking.
Thanks, teacher.
thank you Alex!!!
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome.
Thanks for the explanation ❤️
Thanks for explanations
@engvidAlex
Жыл бұрын
You are welcome!
Amazing! Thank you!
Perfectly explained!👍
Thanks teacher, it’s very useful
@engvidAlex
Ай бұрын
You are welcome!
thank u Alex! ..You are a good teacher!
thank you very much, you are very good teacher
This is a good video because it helps me understand this concept. Thank you!
Thanks 😀
Thank you so much ❤
Thanks to you Alex and EngVid , I found this lesson too easy for me.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Amrani Class Easy is sometimes good. :) This video is meant for beginner students.
Thank you dear teacher!
lucky that I found this video, I had been stucking on this problem for so long.
You are the best in the world, thanks for helping me, I never have had a good explanation like this. Thank
@engvidAlex
2 жыл бұрын
I’m happy to hear this has helped you. Keep learning!
Thank you Adrian Borland!
@engvidAlex
2 жыл бұрын
I had to research who that is, but...yeah. I can see it. LOL.
thanks so much mr,Aelx its very useful and help us and to improve english much more better.
@engvidAlex
8 жыл бұрын
+Weldat Fisshaye Thanks for watching, Weldat!
thanks for your help because your final words solved my problem
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
That's great! I'm happy to help.
thank you Alex
@engvidAlex
6 жыл бұрын
You're very welcome.