Omission of Auxiliary Verbs in Questions/Negatives (e.g. He not go)

In English, most questions and negative sentences need a small helping word: do, does or did. Many learners forget it.

• do / does: for the present (things that are true now or happen often)
• did: for the past

Common mistakes

• ❌ He not go to school.
• ✅ He does not go to school.
• ❌ Where you live?
• ✅ Where do you live?
• ❌ She went not to the party.
• ✅ She did not go to the party.

The main verb stays simple

After do, does or did, the main verb has no -s and no past form. The helping word already shows the time.

• ❌ He doesn’t eats meat.
• ✅ He doesn’t eat meat.
• ❌ When did she called you?
• ✅ When did she call you?

When you don’t need “do”

With be (am, is, are, was, were) and with words like can, will or should, don’t add do/does/did:

• Is she at home?
• He can’t swim.