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I'm a Mathematics lecturer. Sometimes, I'm supposed to say,

All of you do this problem.

to all my students in the class. Can I rephrase it, like

Everybody do this problem.

But Everybody is singular, then will it become

Everybody does this problem.

Could any of you clarify this?

Ganesh Kumar
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1 Answers1

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Your second sentence actually goes like this:

Everybody, do this problem.

You are calling for everyone's attention before telling them to do this problem.

Your last sentence can be changed to this:

Everybody does this problem perfectly fine during the test.

"Do" is usually used to form imperative sentences or commands, in this case do this problem, which is perfectly fine. does this problem also works, but note the difference in context.

DialFrost
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  • I agree with the insertion of the comma. If Ganesh were instructing a single student called Krishna to do the problem he would say "Krishna, do this problem". This indicates that 'everybody' in the sentence "Everybody, do this problem" can be regarded as singular and the question is resolved. – BoldBen Jun 16 '22 at 17:19