For many English learners, do, does, don’t and doesn’t can feel very confusing because they don’t have these terms in their native language. Students may understand the meaning of these words, but freeze up or use the wrong one when it’s time to put them in a sentence.

If you teach beginner to lower-intermediate English learners online, chances are you’ve heard sentences like, “She don’t eat broccoli” and “He do his homework every day.”

You may have corrected your students countless times, yet they still seem to be flipping a coin every time they have to use one of these words. The good news is that with a few simple explanations, memorable patterns, and engaging activities, students can master these grammar points.

In this article, we’ll explore easy ways to teach do/does and don’t/doesn’t, plus some fun memory tricks to help your students remember when to use each one.

Step 1: Start with the Big Idea

Before diving into grammar rules, explain the purpose of these words in simpler terms.

Tell students:

• Do/Does are helper words we use for questions, saying yes, and emphasis.
• Don’t/Doesn’t are helper words used for negatives. Explain that these are the contractions for “do not” and “does not.”

Keep explanations short and beginner-friendly. Too much grammar terminology can overwhelm students early on.

Step 2: Teach the Pairings

The most important step is to help your students remember when to use do/does/don’t/doesn’t is by teaching pronoun partnerships.

Use DO with: I, you, we, they

Use DOES with: He, she, it

You can turn this into a chant, rhythm, or call-and-response activity, such as, “I do, you do, we do, they do…he does, she does, it does!”

Step 3: Teach the “S Rule”

This is one of the most helpful tricks for students:

Explain that in the present simple tense, sentences with he/she/it usually take an -s ending on the verb.

Examples:

• He plays soccer.
• She likes cats.
• It rains a lot.

The same pattern applies to the verb do. He/she/it takes on the -es form of the verb.

Examples:

• She does her homework every evening.
• Does he play soccer?
• She doesn’t like cats.
• It doesn’t rain here much.

Step 4: Practice with Grammar Exercises

Give your students a grammar sheet where they have to fill in the blanks with do/does/don’t/doesn’t. Allow time to complete it independently, then review the answers together as a class.

Examples:

• He _____ like dancing.
• _____ you want to go to the park?
• It _____ snow here.
• Yes, I _____.
• No, you _____.

Another option is a sentence correction exercise, where students are given incorrect sentences (like “She don’t like coffee”) and asked to fix them. This mirrors the kinds of mistakes they make in real life, making it especially relevant practice.

Step 5: Practice with Real-Life Questions

After students get comfortable with filling in the blanks and correcting sentences, have them ask each other questions using those words.

Example questions:

• Do you like spicy food?
• Does your best friend play video games?
• Do your parents cook at home?
• Does your cat sleep all day?

Applying these words in real conversation keeps students engaged and builds fluency.

Step 6: Give a Quiz

Wrap up with a short quiz to check understanding. A simple 10-question format works well. Just like with the grammar exercises, students can identify the correct word to use in the blank and also correct errors in given sentences.

Once your students have a good grasp of do/does and don’t/doesn’t in simple sentences, you can introduce these words in the context of the 5 W (and H) question words: what, where, who, why, when, and how. We’ll cover tips and tricks for teaching that in next week’s article!