Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Do versus Does
Question for you grammar gurus...
What does do/does modify--and how do you pick whether it's do or does?
Here's the sentence I'm struggling with:
"What solutions do/does the [product name] software suite offer?" The product name is singular. So it could be like "What solutions does the Microsoft software suite offer?" or "What solutions does the AT&T software suite offer?"
In my mind, I tried to remove the "extra stuff" in the sentence to judge--What solutions does [product name] offer? That sounds good. But then when I put it in the full sentence, "solutions does" sounds weird together since both have the "s" at the end.
What's the rule here? And accordingly, is it do or does? I wasn't sure if it matched up with the word "solutions" or the singular product name.
Thanks!
What does do/does modify--and how do you pick whether it's do or does?
Here's the sentence I'm struggling with:
"What solutions do/does the [product name] software suite offer?" The product name is singular. So it could be like "What solutions does the Microsoft software suite offer?" or "What solutions does the AT&T software suite offer?"
In my mind, I tried to remove the "extra stuff" in the sentence to judge--What solutions does [product name] offer? That sounds good. But then when I put it in the full sentence, "solutions does" sounds weird together since both have the "s" at the end.
What's the rule here? And accordingly, is it do or does? I wasn't sure if it matched up with the word "solutions" or the singular product name.
Thanks!
Top answer
Your analysis is correct - it's "does". It's the same with "What books does Fred read". The fact that two words ending in -s come together has no effect on the grammar.
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Your analysis is correct - it's "does".
It's the same with "What books does Fred read". The fact that two words ending in -s come together has no effect on the grammar.
It's the same with "What books does Fred read". The fact that two words ending in -s come together has no effect on the grammar.
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Cool! @fivejedjon Can you teach me why? Is it like modifying? "Does" is modifying (is that the right word) "solutions" not the product name? I'm hoping I can learn something from this. Thanks!
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What solutions does the Microsoft software suite offer?
The grammatical subject of the verb 'does' is 'the Microsoft software suite' (singular). 'What solutions' is the direct object of the verb.
The grammatical subject of the verb 'does' is 'the Microsoft software suite' (singular). 'What solutions' is the direct object of the verb.
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