do
verb · noun
Simple meaning
A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dooIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdu
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
auxiliary
A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.
A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be.
transitive
To perform the tasks or actions associated with (something).
Carry out or perform an action
“John did the painting, the weeding, and he cleaned out the gutters.”
intransitive
To fare, perform (well or poorly).
transitive
To perform; to execute.
noun
chiefly fossilized
Something that can or should be done.
ukinformal
A party, celebration, social function; usually of moderate size and formality.
us
A Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine
ukslang
A homicide.
informal
Clipping of hairdo. [A hairstyle.]
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.
Used this way, do is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a grammar or language-study use: it describes how language works, so it appears in teaching and reference writing.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Formal
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Where it naturally appears
- Academic writing
- Education/classroom
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
Comfortable in writing and prepared speech; in casual conversation a shorter everyday word usually sounds more natural.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use do
- “How is she doing in her new job?”verb
- “We could do with a little more help around here.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.