Who/ did

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Who/ did
Message from braj697 posted on 21-02-2012 at 09:10:28 (D | E | F)
Hello,

I have been learning English in a reputed English teaching center in Bangalore.
In my book, I saw that the word "who" cannot be used with the word "did".

But can I ask a question like "who did this?"
Is this sentence correct?

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Edited by lucile83 on 21-02-2012 09:35

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Re: Who/ did from violet91, posted on 21-02-2012 at 12:31:10 (D | E)
Hello,

Of course you can ! Your sentence -' Who did this ?' is all correct ! Because you use verb " to do " in its full meaning ( be busy at doing something ); "who" is the subject of the verb .
In that case -an active and affirmative form, a simple tense -you mustn't use " do , does or did " as an auxiliary .

Ex: - Who speaks English fluently here ? - I do or I speak English .....
- Who had a good bite at your throat , last night ? -Dracula did !

Yet , I am amazed you found a book reading " no use of did after who ".
What about whom , who as a complement interrogative pronoun when the subject busy with action is already expressed ?

Look !
- Who(m) did Mrs Thatcher live with for long ? - With her loving husband and her twins ( answer to your question as a who(m) complement )
- Who did you write to ? - To a member of the site .

I hope this is clear enough for you , now. Have a nice day , then !

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Re: Who/ did from braj697, posted on 21-02-2012 at 18:18:55 (D | E)
Hello violet91,

Thanks for clearing my doubt with examples.

The information which is given in the book is exactly as follows:

With the question word "who", we do not use "did".

I wonder how can a reputed English training center can publish a book with mistakes.
Please suggest me whether I should send a mail to the author of the book to correct it.

I have been learning much more here than in the class.

Thanks for your help and have a great day.

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Re: Who/ did from lucile83, posted on 21-02-2012 at 18:50:44 (D | E)
Hello,

Which year is that book? before 1800 or after 1999?

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Re: Who/ did from gerondif, posted on 21-02-2012 at 19:14:31 (D | E)
Hello,

if it were an old book that considered "whom" as the only correct accusative form, you could say:

Who saw the film ? Who discovered America ? and, yes, in that case, you do not use the auxiliary verb "did" in the question because "who" is the subject of the verb and you do not need an interrogative form with an inversion and the auxiliary verb did.
Who arrived first? John arrived first.
(When you say "Who did this ?", did is a real lexical verb, as in "who wrote this ? Who manufactured this ?")

But

Whom did you see ? Whom did you speak to ? would be correct with "did".
I saw john, I spoke to John.

so

With the question word "who", we do not use the auxiliary verb "did" when who is the subject of a verb in the preterite.

The same would apply to the relative pronoun....

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Re: Who/ did from braj697, posted on 23-02-2012 at 06:21:09 (D | E)
Hello gerondif,

You made is simple. Thanks

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