what he does/likes is

[CarloSsS]

I guess most of us know sentences with "what clauses" that focus on the main verb (in this case "sit"), e.g.

"What he does is sit in front of the TV".

Now, what I would like to ask you is: Can I replace "does" in the sentence above with another verb? Would the following work and sound natural? I'm well aware that the meaning is different, but that doesn't matter to me right now. All I am interested in is to know whether or not the sentence below is natural.

"What he likes is sit in front of the TV".
Thank you for your time.

 

[5jj]

"What he likes is sit in front of the TV".

That doesn't work. The 'sit' needs to be 'to sit' or 'sitting'. We can say 'He does sit ...'; we can't say 'He likes sit ...'.

 

[CarloSsS]

That doesn't work. The 'sit' needs to be 'to sit' or 'sitting'. We can say 'He does sit ...'; we can't say 'He likes sit ...'.

Interesting. It works with "does", but doesn't with other verbs? Is there any verb you can think of that it would work with? And how about when I change the infinitive in the first sentence like this?

What he does is sitting in front of the TV?

That doesn't work for me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Interesting. It works with "does", but doesn't with other verbs? Is there any verb you can think of that it would work with? And how about when I change the infinitive in the first sentence like this?

What he does is sitting in front of the TV?

That doesn't work for me.

It doesn't work.

 

[Gillnetter]

I guess most of us know sentences with "what clauses" that focus on the main verb (in this case "sit"), e.g.

"What he does is sit in front of the TV".

Now, what I would like to ask you is: Can I replace "does" in the sentence above with another verb? Would the following work and sound natural? I'm well aware that the meaning is different, but that doesn't matter to me right now. All I am interested in is to know whether or not the sentence below is natural.

"What he likes is sit in front of the TV".
Thank you for your time.

You are trying to replace a tire on an automobile with an apple when the only thing that will fit is a tire. "does" serves an important function in English, and cannot, without additional support, be replaced.