The usage of " do " and " does " :

Question

Regarding the usage of " do " and " does " :

"I" is a first person
"you" and "we" are second person.
"they" is third person.

Then why following "they" we have to use the form "does"?

Eg.
instead of "They do not come."
rather than we say " They does not come"

why?

You don't say "they does not come". – Stephie Jan 25 '15 at 08:23 — Stephie, Jan 25 '15 at 08:23

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 25 '15 at 08:27

2

You are only half-right as far as third person is concerned:

The "special" verb form is used for third person singular only.

Hence:

"He does not come." but

"They do not come."

answered Jan 25 '15 at 08:27

Stephie

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 25 '15 at 17:39

Let me correct the OP as follows:

the pronoun "we" isn't second person. It's the first person plural form. "I" is the first person singular form.
you is the second person singular as well as plural form.
He, she, it are the third person singular forms, whereas "they" is the third person plural form.

You use the auxiliary "do" for I, we, you, and they.

You use the auxiliary "does" for he, she, it.

So it's incorrect that we say They does not come. Instead, we say They do not come.

2 Answers2