Does/is

[kahhong]

Hello

,

To request a meaning of the word, should i use Does/do or Is/are?


For an example:

1.What does this word mean, Mdm Jac?

or


2.What is this word mean, Mdm Jac?

Thank You

[Tdol]

Does

[Michelle20]

# 1 is right.

[kahhong]

Thank You, why Does or firstone is correct?

[kahhong]

:)

[matilda]

you CAN use is in case you change the structure.
you can say: what is the meaning of ...?

but the other sentence(what does ... mean ?) is correct by itself

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by kahhong

Thank You, why Does or firstone is correct?

Try inverting the question back to a simple statement to find the correct form. We get:

1) "This word does mean..."
and
2) "This word is mean..."

Obviously, 1) is the present simple tense, using the auxiliary verb 'do'. Normally, in a statement, we would just say "This word means..." without the auxiliary, but it is necessary both in a question and a statement emphasising what the word DOES mean. You cannot say in English "What this word mean?" without the auxiliary after 'what'. In fact, it is a very common mistake made by EFL learners.

2) is ungrammatical. To make it grammatical, we would need to write "This word is meaning...", but we are now using the present continuous tense, not the present simple. It is just not good English to use the present continuous in this context. Again, a typical mistake of EFL learners is to say "What is this word meaning, please?"