basic grammar ques

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shreeman: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 35; Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:46 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by shreeman » Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:52 pm

Affirmative sentence - He speaks spanish. (correct)
interrogative sentence - Does he speak spanish. (correct) --- why "s" is removed from the verb speak when we are asking a ques? Now speak is plural here.

i got confused after reading a sentence in chpater 2 MGMAT SC

Does everyone have their book - thier is incorrect becasue evreryone is singular and that's why we are using does to ask a question.

Does everone have his/her book - in day to day conversation we use "have" only not "has" but i want to know grammatical reason behind the use of "have"?

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:52 pm

ashokkadam: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 210; Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:25 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 6 times

by ashokkadam » Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:31 pm

@shreeman

Interesting!! I guess that's what makes English a funny language.

shreeman wrote:Affirmative sentence - He speaks spanish. (correct)
interrogative sentence - Does he speak spanish. (correct) --- why "s" is removed from the verb speak when we are asking a ques? Now speak is plural here.

i got confused after reading a sentence in chpater 2 MGMAT SC

Does everyone have their book - thier is incorrect becasue evreryone is singular and that's why we are using does to ask a question.

Does everone have his/her book - in day to day conversation we use "have" only not "has" but i want to know grammatical reason behind the use of "have"?

Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins.

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Jim@Grockit: GMAT Instructor; Posts: 641; Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:07 pmFollowed by: 45 members; Location: Madison, WI; Thanked: 162 times; GMAT Score:760

by Jim@Grockit » Sun Oct 03, 2010 8:41 pm

shreeman wrote:Affirmative sentence - He speaks spanish. (correct)
interrogative sentence - Does he speak spanish. (correct) --- why "s" is removed from the verb speak when we are asking a ques? Now speak is plural here.

i got confused after reading a sentence in chpater 2 MGMAT SC

Does everyone have their book - thier is incorrect becasue evreryone is singular and that's why we are using does to ask a question.

Does everone have his/her book - in day to day conversation we use "have" only not "has" but i want to know grammatical reason behind the use of "have"?

Speak isn't plural in "Does he speak Spanish?" nor is have in "Does everyone have his/her book?"

When you invert subject and verb in asking a question, you need to have an auxiliary verb (like do) unless the verb is already an auxiliary verb. Thus:

Statement: He can speak Spanish. Question: Can he speak Spanish?
Statement: He speaks Spanish. Question: Does he speak Spanish?

When you add an auxiliary verb like do, do is the one that gets inflected -- gets its ending changed for person and number -- rather than speak. Speak stays in its plain form, the one you see in the infinitive to speak . . . which looks the same as the plural form.

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shreeman: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 35; Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 9:46 pm; Thanked: 3 times

by shreeman » Mon Oct 04, 2010 4:07 am

Now, i got it

Thanks a lot

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