Le verbe anglais TO DO comme prédicat

“do read” or “do reading”? – The verb “to do” as predicate

DO as

AUXILIARY: When the verb “to do” is an auxiliary (that is helping a proper verb to describe the action in a point of time), then the proper verb must always be in infinitive:

• • “Do you read?” (Helping to form a question, asking generally about an action)
  • “I do not read.” (Helping to negate the action.)

PREDICATE (verb + noun in a predicate, verbal group)

• • “Can you do the dishes, please?” (to do dishes)
  • “He always does the cooking.”

Compare with similar expressions:

• “I like reading.” (In order to check wether it has to be with ending “ing” (noun), you should be able to replace it by a proper noun: “I like the colour.”)
  • So it cannot be “I like to read.”  (“to read” is a verb!) > “I like cooking.” (There is no article if the noun derives from a verb.)
  • BUT: “I would like to tell you that …” (NOT: “I would like to the house that …” “I would like to do the cooking.”