Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[ahemahem]

Hello everyone,

I am a fledgling ESL teacher and I am assisting a young Spaniard who is learning English over here in Australia. He asked me in Spanish tonight whether I could explain the use of "do" as an auxiliary verb in English. I explained that Spanish does not really have an equivalent of "do" (or at least none that I have encountered in eight years of studying the Spanish language!) and that I would search for information.

I am wondering if there is any free Web page or other free online resource that contains a good summary of the use of "do" in this way. I have surfed the Web for a good hour but all I can find are some pages with explanations of "do" mixed in with other modals. I'm a Web dunce.

I would be very grateful for all help offered, as I have been intrigued for a long time as to the rules behind "do" as an auxiliary and how best to explain it to people learning English as a second language.

Ta in advance.

[Dave Shaffer]

Dear Ahemahem,

Go to this Auxiliary DO page:

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/syntax-textbook/box-modals.html#do


Best wishes,
Dave Shaffer