Word
don't
Phoneticsdont
Definitions
01negative auxiliary
v. the short way to say 'do not'.
v. the contracted form of 'do not', used as a negative auxiliary verb in the present simple tense.
“I don't want any sugar in my tea, thank you.”
“Most residents in this area don't support the new construction project because of the noise it will generate at night.”
Pitfall
He don't like coffee.
He doesn't like coffee.
In standard English, 'don't' is only for 'I', 'you', 'we', and 'they'. Use 'doesn't' for 'he', 'she', and 'it'.
Synonyms
Antonyms
02negative command
v. used to tell someone not to do something.
v. used as a negative imperative to issue a prohibition or command.
“Don't forget to lock the door when you leave the house.”
“Don't underestimate the complexity of the task, as it requires significant attention to detail and patience.”
Antonyms
03things to avoid
n. things that you should not do in a specific situation.
n. a prohibition or a rule against a specific action, almost exclusively used in the plural phrase 'dos and don'ts'.
“The teacher gave us a list of dos and don'ts for the school trip.”
“The orientation handbook includes a comprehensive list of the cultural dos and don'ts for expatriates moving to the region.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From do + -n't. Depending on dialect, its use in the third-person singular may be from elision (in these dialects "does" is used when not in the negative) or from not using -s to mark the third-person singular at all.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/dont