Re: Question about "do"

On Sun, Jul 27, 2003 at 02:38:06AM -0400, E. Notagain wrote:
> What exactly is the word "do"?
It's a verb, but it's one of a small class of verbs that can be used
as an auxiliary or "helping" verb to add some aspect of meaning to
a main verb.

These little extra meanings are typically only distantly related to
the verbs' primary meaning.  In statements, "do" adds emphasis; it
can also function as a particle that turns statements into questions.

Similarly, "have" is used to form the perfect tenses of verbs,
which indicate completed action ("I have done that"); "be" is used
to form the progressive tenses of verbs, which indicate ongoing
action ("I'm doing that"), as well as the passive voice
("I am being called").

Other auxiliary verbs include "can", "may", "might", "will", "shall",
"would", "should" (which were originally the past tense forms of
"will" and "shall"), etc.

-Mark