In my previous column [posted here in the Forum last week], I explained to a senior PR executive why I used the singular verb form “has” for the subject “none” in this sentence construction of mine: “I hope none of you still has a problem choosing between ‘bring’ and ‘take’...” He had wondered if I should have used the plural verb form “have” instead in the same way that it’s used in this example that he provided: “I don’t want to be caught saying ‘Do you (still) has?’ We should all ask ‘Do you (still) have?’” 

I explained that he was correct in using the plural verb form “have” in that sentence construction because in contrast to my sentence construction, the subject is clearly the pronoun “you.” This, I pointed out, is because “you”—by some quirk of English grammar—always requires the plural form of the verb regardless of whether it’s meant to be singular or plural. But I added in closing that there’s an even more compelling reason for using “have” in “do”-questions like the one he had supplied. 

That reason is the same I gave to a Hong Kong-based Filipina journalist-teacher who—almost at the same time as the senior PR executive—wrote me seeking an answer to this question posed by an adult Chinese student of hers: “Why do we combine the past and present tenses in sentences like ‘I did not go to school yesterday’? Why isn’t it ‘I did not went to school [instead]’? How do you define that sentence construction? Is there a special term for it, or do we just say ‘It’s that way because that’s the rule’?” 

Here now is the common reason for that usage that baffled both the senior PR executive and the adult Chinese student of the Filipina journalist-teacher: English has three primary helping verbs—“do,” “be,” and “have.” Also called auxiliary verbs, they help the main verb in a sentence form questions, negatives, and some verb tenses. The general rule is that when a helping verb is used in a sentence, it’s the helping verb that takes the tense, while the main verb takes its base form (the infinitive of the verb without the “to,” as in “make” from the infinitive “to make”). 

“Do” in particular is used to (a) indicate questions, (b) indicate the negative of a statement, and (c) emphasize a statement. Here are the particulars of its usage:

(a) “Do” to indicate a question: “Did he take the bus?” “Does he take the bus?” In both the past and present tense, it’s the helping verb “do” that takes the tense. The main verb “take” doesn’t take the tense and remains in its base form. 

Note that when “do” is used as a helping verb to form a question, the main verb always takes its base form—which just happens to look like the plural form when, in fact, it’s really not—regardless of whether the subject (or doer of the action) is singular or plural. In all cases, it’s the helping verb “do” that takes the tense, as in these questions that have plural subjects: “Did they take the bus?” “Do they take the bus?” “Did we take the bus?” “Do we take the bus?” 

(b) “Do” to indicate the negative of a statement: “I did not take the bus.” “I don’t take the bus.” In both these sentences, it’s the helping verb “do” that takes the tense. The main verb “take” doesn’t take the tense and remains in its base form. 

(c) “Do” to emphasize a statement: “I did take the bus.” “I do take the bus.” Here, “do” works to strongly emphasize a response to a particular question like, say, “Did (or “Do”) you really take the bus?” Again, in such cases, it’s the helping verb “do” that takes the tense. The main verb “take” doesn’t take the tense and remains in its base form. (June 20, 2009)

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From the weekly column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in The Manila Times, June 20, 2009 © 2009 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

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Sometime ago, in response to e-mail I sent out inviting selected people to visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, I received this very interesting reply from a senior PR executive who was currently vacationing in Europe:

“Just wanted you to know I share your passion for correct English usage. Sometimes I feel guilty of being ‘holier than thou’ when I shower my employees with pieces of advice on English communication.

“But you know, we are all human and we do make mistakes, too, or ‘typos’ if you will. We are [as they say] entitled to make such errors once a year.

“Take a look at your first sentence [in the e-mail]: ‘I hope none of you still has a problem choosing between “bring” and “take”...’

“Don’t you think you should instead say ‘I hope none of you still have a problem choosing between “bring” and “take”...?’

“I don’t want to be caught saying, ‘Do you (still) has?’ We should all ask ‘Do you (still) have?’

“Just wondering! (I don’t know the subtleties of grammar, and I certainly don’t know how to conjugate. I write only on the basis of how the sentence sounds.)”

Here’s my reply to the senior PR executive:

You’ve raised a valid and very interesting question about my usage of the singular verb “has” for that sentence.

Actually, the pronoun “none” could be singular or plural depending on how the writer uses it. As noted by The American Heritage Dictionary, “The choice between a singular or plural verb depends on the desired effect. Both options are acceptable in this sentence: None of the conspirators has (or have) been brought to trial.” Here, the sense of “none” could either be “not one” or “not any.”

In my sentence, my intent was to use “none” in the sense of “not one,” so I chose to use the singular form “has” for the verb. Still, it’s perfectly valid to ask: Why not the plural form “have” instead?  

Here’s the reason for my choice:

My basic sentence—with its complicating modifiers removed—is actually this: “I hope none of you still has a problem.” Here, the subject of the sentence is clearly the pronoun “none”; it’s not the plural pronoun “you,” which is simply a part of the phrase “of you” that modifies “none.” In fact, we can further boil down the sentence to this more basic form: “I hope none has a problem.” Here, it becomes much easier to appreciate the logic behind my choice of the singular “has.” Indeed, it would be odd if not grammatically wrong to write or say, “I hope none have a problem.”

Still another way to understand this usage is to analyze this other sentence: “I hope one of you [is, are] willing to help me do the annual budget.” Here, of course, the subject is clearly the singular pronoun “one,” so it obviously makes sense for the verb to take the singular form “is”: “I hope one of you is willing to help me do the annual budget.” Because “you” isn’t the operative subject of the sentence, its closeness to the verb doesn’t in any way determine whether that verb takes the singular or plural form.

With the usage examples the PR executive presented, however, the situation is different. Definitely, you and I don’t ever want to be caught asking, “Do you (still) has a problem with your grammar?” As you pointed out, we should ask, “Do you (still) have a problem with your grammar?” This is because here, the subject is clearly the pronoun “you,” which, regardless of whether it’s meant to be singular or plural, always requires the plural form of the verb. (June 13, 2009)

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From the weekly column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in The Manila Times, June 13, 2009 © 2009 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

In next week’s edition of the Forum, I’ll post my follow-up essay discussing an even more compelling reason for using “have” in “do”-questions like the one presented above.

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