Search from various Englisch teachers...
ClaireFr
Why not do / Why not doing
I would have say "why not doing" and I've recently read "why not do".
I googled both and it seems that "Why not do" is more used.
Is "why not doing" acceptable or not ?
Do both sentences have the same meaning ?
"Why not do your homework?" / "Why not doing homework?"
Thank you for your help !
6. Apr. 2013 18:56
Antworten · 5
3
Only "Why not do your homework?" is correct. No native speaker English speaker would ask "Why not doing homework?"
6. April 2013
2
A Google search is not grammatically valid. All of the google results for "why not doing your homework" - all six of them! - have nothing to do with making a suggestion.
You need a proper verb for making a suggestion: "Why not do your homework?" Pull off the question structures which make it a suggestion, and you have a clear imperative: "do your homework". Making it a negative question (Why not..?) results in a soft suggestion.
6. April 2013
I agree with the other responses, you would never say "why not doing...". But I can't really think of anyone asking 'why not do your homework' because it sounds weird.
There are much more common formations of the same question. For example,
If you were asking why a specific person was not doing their homework you would ask them directly:
'Why are you not doing your homework', or
'why have you not done your homework' or
'why haven't you done your homework' or
another, more verbose way would be "why would you not do your homework"
22. April 2013
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ClaireFr
Sprachfähigkeiten
Englisch, Französisch, Deutsch
Lernsprache
Englisch
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