Speaker 1: Even though I have my own business, I don't like
doing bookkeeping. I use some software to help me with that,
but I haven't had any real training in anything like accounting. Actually,
I don't understand that stuff too much. Don't or haven't
let's discuss.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven ninety nine.
Is it don't or haven't? Did you notice what I
did at the beginning of this episode? In some sentence
I used don't and in others I used haven't. A
lot of English learners get stuck deciding whether to use
don't or haven't, so I thought I would take some
time today to look at these two helping verbs. Some
teachers also call them auxiliary verbs. Let's dive in. First
of all, don't is a contraction of do not, and
doesn't is a contraction of does not. We use don't
or doesn't followed by a base verb in the simple
present tense that means you can use don't or doesn't
when you talk about general truths or facts, habits or routines,
and states. Let's look at each of these. I don't
like raisins. That's something which is always true. My sister
doesn't speak Spanish. That's a fact about her. And here's
one more. Water doesn't freeze at ten degrees right, that's
a scientific fact. Like facts, states are unchanging situations like
I don't know your cousin from Paris. What's he like?
Not Knowing something or even knowing something is a state,
not an action we use. Don't or doesn't with a state.
Jack lives in Brooklyn, so he doesn't own a car.
He doesn't own a car. Possession is also a state. Okay,
so we've covered general truths, facts and states. Now let's
look at some examples of habits and routines. My buddy
ed joined the gym a few months ago, but he
doesn't go very often. That's his habit, not going to
the gym. By the way, it's a pretty common thing
here for people to sign up for the gym but
then not go, even though they pay each month. In
these situations, you may hear a conversation something like this, Hey,
how often do you go to the gym? Oh, not often.
Just my wallet goes to the gym. Yeah, my wallet
goes to the gym. Crazy, right, All right, let's get
back to the topic. I don't have classes on Sundays.
That's my regular habit. So that's don't and doesn't. We
use those words to talk about general truths and facts,
states and regular habit and speaking of habits, here's a
regular habit you should have when it comes to improving
your English. It's the All Ears English podcast. All Ears English.
That's the place where my friends Lindsey, Michelle and Aubrey
focus on connection, not perfection, with real and natural English conversations.
The All Ears English podcast has four point seven million
all time listeners and two hundred million all time downloads.
They have even been ranked number one in US education
language courses in Apple, and they've got five new episodes
every week. In today's episode, they teach you how to
use the native phrase while you're at it, and tomorrow
you'll learn this subtle difference about when to use but
and when to use though. Sounds awesome. Right To get
all of this and more, open your search bar right
now on your podcast player and type all Ears English
and hit follow. If you haven't checked out their podcast.
Now's your time. Let's move on to how we use
haven't or hasn't. Haven't is a contraction of have not,
and hasn't is a contraction of has not. We use
haven't or hasn't in the present perfect tense in the
following ways, actions that started in the past and continue
up to now, unfinished actions, and life experiences or lack
of life experiences. Let's look at each category. I have
seen my coworker today. She left the office before I arrived,
and I still haven't seen her. This action of not
seeing her started this morning and continues up to now.
It's already three pm, and Tommy hasn't eaten anything all day.
This means from the start of the day until now,
he hasn't eaten anything. We also use haven't when we
talk about unfinished actions, like I haven't finished my homework yet.
I mean I started it an hour ago, but it's
not done. Katie started cleaning the house a few hours ago,
but she hasn't cleaned the kitchen yet. That task is
not complete. Another place we use haven't or hasn't is
when we talk about life excits experiences. Well, actually, lack
of experiences like Jenny told me that she hasn't ever
eaten sushi. I was surprised to hear that, And even
though she's traveled all over Asia, her and her husband
haven't visited Japan. To sum up, when you're talking about
a habit fact or general truth, use don't or doesn't.
When you're talking about an unfinished action or lack of experience,
use haven't or hasn't. Keep in mind, the best way
to remember English like this in any other word or
phrase in English is to take that word or phrase,
write it in a sentence that's true for you or
true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Did
you know? You can get more practice using your English
when you join my podcast Learner's study group. There you
can make new friends, join us for live group lessons
every week where we practice these podcast lessons together. Plus
you get access to the pdf, transcript and audio download
for every Happy English podcast in the past and in
the future. And on top of that, each episode has
exercises where you can practice this English point with speaking
and writing checked by me. To learn more, just visit
Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven ninety nine.
Remember Learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,
and I'm here to help you on your journey.
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Happy English.