Lesson 31: Questions using Does (Part 1)

Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to the English Grammar Refresher Cafe.

Introduction

This may be sudden, but
do youbesides Japanese,
have any languages you can speak?

Or perhaps,
any languages you would like to learn?

Up until now, I have

learned various languages such as
English, German, French, Italian, and Korean.

I have
studied many different languages.

Unfortunately, there are some languages
that I have forgotten
because I haven't had the chance to use them,
though...

I have tried Russian and Chinese several times,
but the characters and pronunciation were difficult,
and I gave up many times.

However, recently I am
trying Russian again.

I feel that my memory
is declining due to aging, but

I want to continue
learning many languages
from now on as well.

Learning foreign languages,
experiencing foreign cultures,
and interacting with people from other countries

is, for me,
life itself.

I want to share the joy of language learning
with as many people as possible,
which is why I continue this note.

Now, this time
I will explainquestions that use Does.

If you follow the steps,
it is not that difficult.

Please read it at your leisure,
with a warm cup of coffee or something in hand.

Since the explanation
seems like it will be long,

I will deliver it
in two parts.

☆Review of what we've covered so far☆

How to form questions using Does

Here are the steps to form a question using Does.

This time, let's look at 1 and 2.

Here is today's original sentence.

We will change this into...

"Does Hanako speak Chinese?"

a question.

1. Confirm that the subject is third-person singular.

First, let's focus on the subject of the original sentence.

Hanako speaks Chinese.

In this sentence,
which word is the subject?

Yes, that's right. "
Hanako " is the subject.

Is Hanako
third-person singular?

Hanako can be thought of as
one female.

Therefore, it can be replaced by the
pronoun 'she' (meaning she).

If you thought, 'What is a pronoun? What is she?'

please check the explanation in Lesson 13.

'he / she / it' and
nouns that can be replaced by 'he / she / it' were
third-person singular, right?

Therefore,

we have confirmed that Hanako is third-person singular.

2. Add 'Does' to the beginning of the sentence

Since we have confirmed the subject is third-person singular,

we will proceed to the next step.

The second step is simple.

At the beginning of the sentence, just add "Does"!

→ Does Hanako speaks Chinese.

That is all!

Have you understood
up to this point?

Steps 3 through 5
still remain
before completion, but

you have finished
up to step 2 this time.

You did a great job.

Finally, here is a quiz.

★Practice Problems★

Which of the following he / she / it can the following nouns be replaced with?

1. Taro 2. my mother
3. this room 4. Mr. Sasaki

↓

↓

↓

Were you able to do it?

The correct answers are,

1. he 2. she 3. it
4. he

!

For those who got them all right,
congratulations!

For those who made mistakes,
congratulations!

You have found the treasure of failure!

Failure is the stepping stone to success.

Language learning is something you pick up
while making mistakes.

If you carefully review the parts you got wrong,
they will stick in your memory.

It's okay!

Everyone, thank you for your hard work
again this time!

Next time,
I will explain
steps 3 to 5
of questions using Does.

I would be happy if you read it again.

Your likes and follows
are my motivation.

Thank you for reading
until the end.

English Grammar Refresher Cafe