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Do people actually say, for example, "What does it means?" in conversation, instead of "What does it mean?"?
Because so many people nowadays make that grammatical error in writing, obviously thinking it's correct--that is, they don't know how to form a question correctly with "does" or "do" or "did". But I've never heard anyone make that error in speaking. So do they do that?
I mean, do some people do that. Obviously not everyone does it.
6 Answers
- busterwasmycatLv 72 years ago
Maybe, but not many that I have contact with on a regular basis. Or maybe they do and I refuse to hear it the way they say it, via my autofilter brain function. I cannot say that I have heard anyone say it that way recently, that is for sure. A child might, and a foreign-language speaker might, but not any English as a first language person I meet in the normal course of my life.
- Spock (rhp)Lv 72 years ago
the singular ["mean"] is appropriate since the antecedent ["it"] is singular
- 2 years ago
No, not really. 'Means' is a method by which a result is brought about, like a means to a problem. 'Mean' is the intent to convey or signify something, like "I don't know what you mean?" Where 'what' is the thing we're confused about. "What does it means" would be grammatically incorrect, and I've never heard it outside of exaggerated accents.
