6
2
For example:
Does he be a hero?
instead of
Is he a hero?
.
He doesn't be good as you thought
instead of
he isn't good as you thought.
.
The memories don't be real
instead of
The memories aren't real.
You use do in all questions in simple present and simple past, but why don't you use it for the word 'be'?
user19424
Posted 2016-12-23T15:40:39.137
Reputation: 121
5
The rule is that in "transforming" a declarative sentence into a question (or a negation), the subject inverts with the auxiliary verb.
He is acting like a hero. → Is he acting like a hero?
He has acted like a hero. → Has he acted like a hero?
If there is no auxiliary verb present in the declarative form, the appropriate form of DO is brought in as a 'dummy' auxiliary.
He acts like a hero. → Does he act like a hero?, not *Acts he like a hero?
He acted like a hero. → Did he act like a hero?, not *Acted he like a hero?
But BE is always treated like an auxiliary verb, even when it is the only verb present in the declarative form.
He is a hero. → Is he a hero?, not *Does he be a hero?
He was a hero. → Was he a hero?, not *Did he be a hero?
Note that until quite recently HAVE could be treated the same way as BE—even today you find speakers inverting non-auxiliary HAVE with the subject, though it is becoming rare.
Have you any kumquats today? is acceptable, although Do you have any kumquats today? is more usual.
The same considerations apply with negations.
StoneyB on hiatus
Posted 2016-12-23T15:40:39.137
Reputation: 176 469
1Well, *Do be quiet!* is certainly a natural imperative construction. And although I wouldn't like to stake my life on it, I doubt there are any syntactic errors in something like Does he be quiet when he's told to shut up? (but there might be a rule saying why Yes, he certainly does be quiet! isn't an acceptable response). – FumbleFingers Reinstate Monica – 2016-12-23T17:03:21.677
@FumbleFingers, "be quiet" might be enough of a set phrase to have to be treated as a unit rather than as individual words when transforming it like this. – The Photon – 2016-12-23T18:12:38.420
1 @The Photon: *So, do be a darling, won't you?* Are you going to say that one doesn't count either, because be a darling is also a set phrase?
@FumbleFingers, I was talking about the "Does he be quiet when..." example. That seems acceptable to me, but "Does he be a darling when..." does not. – The Photon – 2016-12-23T18:26:34.050
@The Photon: I can't find any credible instances at all of *does he be* in Google Books, but I must admit that if I had to accept either of our versions here, I'd be much happier with *quiet* than *a darling*. It's not really something that should concern learners (all they need to know is Avoid such usages like the plague!), but I might be minded to raise it on ELU.
@FumbleFingers The do in the imperative is not do-support, but an emphatic use of do. And I think The Photon is on the right track: your Does he be quiet? seems to me to derive from the progressive construction with BE meaning behave on a specific occasion ("He's being awfully quiet", "He was being a jerk"), so it sounds odd when it's wrested out of its ordinary context when you take it out of the progressive and use it in a generic/habitual question like that. – StoneyB on hiatus – 2016-12-23T18:48:33.007
Do these other answers answer your question?
– Teacher KSHuang – 2016-12-23T15:51:44.233And we use "did" for questions in the simple past. – Teacher KSHuang – 2016-12-23T15:52:36.300