Doesn't vs won't

Question

This phrase should be correct/common:

I asked Sue what happened but she won't tell me.

Can I also say:

I asked Sue what happened but she doesn't tell me.

Is it still correct / common in English?

Answer 1

You can use "won't" as "will not" as in there's no use in asking, you will not get an answer from her. You can use "wouldn't" as the past tense of will, that at the time she would not tell you, and so you stopped asking then, but maybe things are different now. And you can use "didn't" to say literally that you asked and she didn't answer your question, without any motivations involved.

You can't use "doesn't" except in one case, where you've tried several times and the result is the same and so you know that right know, if you asked, she wouldn't tell you. Then you can say something like:

I ask and I ask, and she doesn't tell me!

Note that the whole thing shifts into the present tense, and there's a lot more emphasis, too. This is used here to express frustration with how things are right now. This is how you use the present tense for repeated or habitual actions.

Answer 2

No, I don't think that the second option is correct. It sounds awkward to my ear - not common usage.

I asked Sue what happened but she doesn't tell me.

asked vs doesn't doesn't work well here. If you really wanted to use "doesn't" here, this construction would work:

I ask Sue what happened but she doesn't tell me.

However this is more of a narrative - not something you would actually say to somebody else.

Stick with your original and cleaner version:

I asked Sue what happened but she won't tell me.