Could you please explain me when to use do/did with question that start with How many e.g.
How many Canadians died in ww2 ?
but How many Canadians do yoga ?
Is this the problem with object and subject question ?
Thank you Helena
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Could you please explain me when to use do/did with question that start with How many e.g.
How many Canadians died in ww2 ?
but How many Canadians do yoga ?
Is this the problem with object and subject question ?
Thank you Helena
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
'died' is not the past tense of 'do'.Quote:
Originally Posted by helenabertz
"Died" is the past tense of "to die" (to perish).
How many Canadians died in WW2?
How many Canadians were killed in WW2?
I know it isn't you haven't understood my question I meant do/did as auxilary verb to form questionsQuote:
Originally Posted by Chicken Sandwich
should it be How many Canadians did die ? or How many Canadians died ? I need an English native nad grammarin to help me . Thanks anyway.
***** NOT A TEACHER *****Quote:
Originally Posted by helenabertz
Both are possible, provided they are used in the appropriate context. 'How many Canadians died in WW2?' is more likely though. 'How many Canadians did die in WW2?' requires some context.
You are right. It requires a context like this:Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicken Sandwich
A: 'I believe that 20,000 Canadians died in WW2'.
B: 'That's nothing like the right number.'
A: 'All right then, how many Canadians did die in WW2?'
B: 'Close to 43,000.'
Rover
Do/Does + subject of the sentence. (present simple)Quote:
Originally Posted by helenabertz
How many friends do you have?
How many books does he want?
Did + subject of the sentence (past simple)
How many books did you read last month?
How many people did she invite?
Thank you for your reply. Could you clarify this for me a bit further ?
A simple question like below , no context, which is correct or both are ?
How many books you read ? or How many books did you read ?
The way I understand in the question
How many Canadians died in ww2 ?
Candians are the the subject so there is no need for do/did ( depending on the tense) like in a question Who told you ?
In the question How many books did you read? the subject are books, like in a question "Who did you tell " the subject is you.
As I understand Who did tell you ? is incorrect. So e.g. How many people did do yoga? is incorrect and How many people did yoga? is correct. Am I right ?
Thank you for you time.
"How many books did you read?" is OK with some context; for example: "I read a lot of books while I was on holiday." Oh, how many books did you read?"Quote:
Originally Posted by helenabertz
"How many books you read?" is not correct, but you could ask "How many books have you read?" which means "How many books have you read in your life, up to this moment in time?"
The type of question that I have coloured red is not necessarily incorrect in the right context, as Rover pointed out earlier. The type I have coloured blue is what we would expect to see/hear in most normal contexts.Quote:
Originally Posted by helenabertz