A small question for ya

Started by Youji September 27th, 2009 3:06 AM
  • 537 views
  • 7 replies

Youji

Game Designer

Age 31
Male
Germany
Seen June 21st, 2020
Posted July 15th, 2015
599 posts
16 Years
Okay I'm German so please excuse this question if it appears stupid to you.
In school we have to learn all that grammer stuff and such (English) and we're always told to add this "s" on the verbs in the 3rd person present tense. Okay but I stumbled upon several phrases now where this rule was broken.

But it only appears for the verb "to do". Is there a special rule, allowing me to say "She don't" ? Because there's a song where it says "It don't" and in an british comedy show a shop assistant says "She don't even work here" while the customer says: "I know that she doesn't even work here".

Also I saw this "don't" in connection with 3rd person present tense somewhere else too, I just cannot remember in which way.

So is there a rule for it or why is that possible? =)

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
Mhh now that's weird xD
Thank you for clearing this up for me ;)
No problem... you'll notice that "don't" may be used in many regions as a substitute for "doesn't" because that is what the speaker is used to hearing in their everyday spoken English, even though it is incorrect grammar.
whoops

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 6 Hours Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
So incorrect grammer but widely used? xD Wow =)
I guess I can associate this with some German standards.
Yep. Not too many native-English speakers are great with grammar.
whoops

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
So incorrect grammer but widely used? xD Wow =)
I guess I can associate this with some German standards.
A lot of people use unusual expressions or grammar in informal speech that aren't technically correct (these oddities can vary by region). One of the more obvious examples I can think of is the usage of "y'all" in southern dialects. For instance, "Y'all wanna get some food?" would be perfectly acceptable informal speaking in the southern United States (I think). However, if you were speaking formally, you might instead say "Would any of you like to get some food?"
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me

.little monster

Age 30
Male
Ohio
Seen June 6th, 2017
Posted March 23rd, 2015
4,291 posts
13.9 Years
I didn't see this mentioned anywhere so I will say it:

Never strickly follow grammatical or pronounciation rules in English. Every single rule for spelling, grammar, pronunciation and more is broken in English at some point. There is no 100% in-effect at all times law for the English language.

Kind of like French, only French is actually more organized than English believe it or not. This is why so many people have trouble learning English to the level of fluency of a native speaker. However, judging off what you said, your English is very very good.