Ekaterina Zaytseva
In which case can we say "do a book"? Hi everyone! I've been going over some grammar explanations today and saw the following example, "What book are you doing in English at the moment?". Since it's just an example, there's no further context and I'm totally at a loss about the meaning of the verb "do" here. I've never thought it could be used in realation to books. Does it mean "study"? Is it supposed to be a textbook and not some kind of literature?
Jun 3, 2018 7:42 AM
Comments · 5
3

This sentence seems like someone is asking which novel (literature) the other person is currently required to read for their English class.   In high school English classes, typically everyone in the class will read the same novel over a period of weeks and discuss in class.  Then the teacher will assign the next novel for everyone to read.  The word "doing" here is a very informal substitute for "reading" or "studying."



June 3, 2018
1
Thank you very much! It never crossed my mind that "in English" might refer to a school subject!
June 3, 2018
1
Its meaning is clear but it would not normally be said, and so is bad English. 'Studying' or 'reading' in English is better.
June 3, 2018
1
In that sentence doing is sort of another way of saying learning about or reading.
June 3, 2018
In that sentence doing is sort of another way of saying learning about or reading.
June 3, 2018