The English language has become the Lingua Franka; a universal language. Learning it is the need of the modern time as it is spoken everywhere. It gives us the ease to converse with people from all corners of the world as almost everyone has some basic understanding of the language. When one speaks English, the words like, “do” and “not” are combined, but when one is writing something like an essay or letter, the words are used as they are.
English has evolved, now when people speak, either they will leave some words or combine them, but it is still written the same way. When we speak, we can speak informally, but it has to be written in a formal style.
The difference between “do not” and “don’t” is, that “do not” is a formal way of saying don’t, and it is mostly used when writing emails or essays for academic purposes or for a job. “Don’t” is formed with two words are, do and not, it is used while speaking because saying the words separately will be time-consuming and it is much easier.
‘Don’t’ and ‘do not‘ mean the same thing, ‘don’t’ is merely a short form for ‘do not’. There are many other words that are combined just like ‘don’t’, for instance ‘would not’ which is combined as ‘wouldn’t’.
Keep reading to know more.
Is do not more formal than don’t?
Despite the fact that ‘do not’ is a formal way of saying ‘don’t’, it is only used in writing, whereas ‘don’t’ can be used in writing and speaking, but mostly in articles. When one is giving a speech and it is something that is formal, still ‘don’t’ is the way to go.
‘Do not’ is more formal than ‘don’t’, if you think about it ‘don’t’ isn’t even the right word, over the years these two words merely evolved into one to make it easier to say. ‘Do not’ are two words that still are used separately only in writing, although not in all types of writing, it is used when something isn’t personal, for instance, you can use it in emails, letters, or assignments for university or job purposes.
Here is a table for some of the contractions in the English language.
| Words | Contractions |
| Are not | Aren’t |
| I have | I’ve |
| There is | There’s |
| He will | He’ll |
| What is | What’s |
| You would | You’d |
When do you use “do not” and “don’t”?
Don’t and do not are used in writing and as well as speaking, but in different situations.
‘Do not’ is supposed to be formal and is used in writing something which isn’t personal, but it is also used in spoken English when a person is trying to make a certain sentence emphatic and forceful, for example, do not open the door.
‘Don’t’ is a contraction of ‘do not’, it is used more in spoken English than in written English, it isn’t used in all writing purposes, the ones that aren’t personal, articles, and blogs.
The only difference between “don’t” and “do not” is the apostrophe after the letter ‘n’ which omits ‘o’ and makes a contraction.
When do you use “didn’t”?
‘Didn’t’ is a contraction and past tense of ‘do not’. It is used when talking or referring to the past.
As English is the universal language, it is learned by every person across the globe. It is considered the world’s second-largest native language, it is an official language in 70 countries.
Like any other language, if a speaker is talking about the past, present, or future, he needs to use tenses so that the listener can identify if the speaker is talking about the past, present, or future. But, people who are new to English find it hard to learn such tenses and when to use them.
‘Do’ is an irregular verb and contains different forms which are five: does, do, doing, did, and done. Do is the base form, did is the past simple form, doing is the present participle, and done is the past form. Each form also goes with different pronouns.
Here is a list of sentences for each form:
- I/they/we do work.
- She/he does work.
- I’m/she’s/he’s/they’re/we’re doing work.
- They/we/I/she/he did work.
- We’re/they’re/I’m/she’s/he’s done with work.
When do you use “doesn’t”?
“Doesn’t” is an identification of a negative statement like “don’t” and it is a form of “do”. “Doesn’t” is a type of form that goes with certain pronouns which are, he, she, it, name, and any singular noun.
The English language is easy as a pie when you understand all the aspects, it becomes much easier to differentiate between what pronoun or verb should be used together and when to use the tenses.
Check out this video to learn more about when to use “doesn’t” and “don’t”
List of sentences for each pronoun.
- He doesn’t like ice cream.
- She doesn’t have money.
- John doesn’t drive.
- The hospital doesn’t open till 5 am.
To conclude
The English language is a universal language therefore it is spoken almost everywhere. If you visit a foreign country, for instance, Spain or Paris, you can communicate easily in English there.
When a person speaks English, words like, “do” and “not” are combined, but when writing something like an essay or letter, the words are used as they are. “Don’t” is more spoken in a casual manner and “do not” is spoken in a formal style.
The English language has evolved over the years, now when people speak, either they leave some words or combine them, but in writing it is still written without contractions or leaving any words to make it seem formal.
The difference between “do not” and “don’t” is that, “do not” is a formal way of saying don’t, the apostrophe after the letter n which omits o and makes a contraction. “Do not” is used in writing something that isn’t personal like an email or essay for academic purposes or for a job. “Don’t” is used while speaking casually or writing something that can be personal like a blog.
There are words that are combined just like ‘do not’, for instance ‘would not’ which is combined as ‘wouldn’t’.
Do not is used in spoken English when the speaker is trying to make the sentence emphatic or forceful, for example, ‘do not open the door’
English is the universal language and it is the world’s second-largest native language, it is an official language in 70 countries. If a speaker is talking about the past, present, or future in any language, he uses tenses to make it easier for the listener to identify which time is the speaker talking about, the past, present, or future. Some people who aren’t fluent in English find it difficult to differentiate the tenses.
‘Didn’t’ is a contraction which is a past tense of ‘do not’. It is always used only when the speaker is talking or referring to the past.
‘Do’ is a verb, but an irregular one, it has different forms which are five: does, do, doing, did, and done. Do is the base form, did is the past simple form, doing is the present participle, and done is the past form. Each form also goes with different pronouns
“Doesn’t” is an identification of a negative statement like “don’t” and it is a negative form of “do”. “Doesn’t” goes with only some of the pronouns which are, he, she, it, name, and any singular noun.
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