Like – likes – don’t like – doesn’t like

Like, Likes, Don’t like, Doesn’t like – Present Simple Tense in English

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES WITH LIKE

Like + thing/object/person

  • I like chocolate.
  • You like flowers.
  • We like card games.
  • They like books.

Let’s look at the first sentence again.

  • I like chocolate.

But for this person, SHE…. what do we say? We say…

  • She likes chocolate.

For he, she, it we use LIKES with an S at the end.

  • She likes chocolate.
  • He likes ice cream.
  • It likes bones.
    Remember IT is for animals.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES WITH LIKE

Look at this sentence:

  • I like snakes.

Yes, I work at a zoo, and I like snakes. This is an affirmative sentence.
How can we make this a negative sentence?

  • I don’t like snakes.

We use DON’T to make negatives sentences (in the present simple tense) when the subject is I, YOU, WE, or THEY. You put DON’T before the verb.

  • I like snakes.
  • I don’t like snakes.

Don’t is a contraction of do not. You can say:

  • I don’t like snakes … OR …
  • I do not like snakes.

Contractions are very common in spoken English.

More examples of negative sentences with don’t like:

  • I don’t like windy days.
  • You don’t like injections.
  • We don’t like spiders.
  • They don’t like spinach.

Now look at this sentence:

  • He likes dogs.

What is the negative of this? The negative of this is…

  • He doesn’t like dogs.

We use DOESN’T to make negatives sentences (in the present simple tense) when the subject is HE, SHE, or IT. You put DOESN’T before the verb.

  • He likes dogs.
  • He doesn’t like dogs.

NOTICE: There is no S at the end of LIKE. There is no S at the end of the verb in negative sentences.
We cannot say:

  • He doesn’t likes dogs. This is not correct.
  • He doesn’t LIKE dogs. This is correct.

Also doesn’t is a contraction of does not.
You can say:

  • He doesn’t like dogs. … OR …
  • He does not like dogs.

Contractions are more common in spoken English.

More examples of negative sentences with doesn’t like:

  • He doesn’t like bad news.
  • She doesn’t like winter.
  • My cat doesn’t like dogs.
    (My cat refers to IT… it doesn’t like dogs)

Remember: NO S at the end of like in negative sentences.

QUESTIONS WITH LIKE

For questions, we simply add DO or DOES at the beginning.

  • You like chocolate. (This is an affirmative sentence)

How can we change this into a question?
For I, you, we, they we add DO at the beginning to make it a question. It becomes…

  • Do you like chocolate?

And with this sentence…

  • He likes chocolate. (This is an affirmative sentence)

How can we change this into a question?
For he, she, it we add DOES at the beginning to make it a question.

  • Does he like chocolate?

Again, there is no S at the end of the verb in questions.

Look at the following questions.
We can respond with short answers.

  • Do you like chocolate?
    Yes, I do. … OR … No, I don’t.
  • Does she like chocolate?
    Yes, she does … OR … No, she doesn’t.

More examples of questions using like:

  • Do you like fast food? Yes, I do.
  • Do they like secrets? Yes, they do.
  • Does she like sales? Yes, she does.
  • Does he like broccoli? Yes, he does.

Answer these questions about you:

  • Do you like dogs?
  • Do you like coffee?
  • Do you like pizza?
  • Do you like horror movies?

Like, likes, don't like, doesn't like, do you like, does he like - The verb LIKE in English

English Practice Exercises

For Spanish Speakers learning English

En esta lección explico (en español) – Cómo usar el verbo LIKE en inglés:

Lesson tags: Affirmative sentences, Like, Negative, Present Tense, Questions, Verbs, Vocabulary
Back to: English Course > Present Simple Tense

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