Home UK English don't

Meaning of don't in English:

don't

Pronunciation /dəʊnt/

See synonyms for don't on Thesaurus.com

Translate don't into Spanish

contraction

  • Do not.

    ‘they really don't know what will happen’
    • ‘I see a face I don't recognize’
    • ‘They may claim it is a reflection of today's society but we don't think it is any excuse.’
    • ‘She gets the care she needs and I don't believe she will get the same if she is moved.’
    • ‘If you don't have chest problems when you go in, you certainly will when you come out.’
    • ‘How much harder is it to shop for a wedding gown if you don't really know what you are shopping for?’
    • ‘We believe that there might have been a collision but we don't know how that was caused.’
    • ‘Those who have not been so frugal and don't have the money in the bank are well subsidised.’
    • ‘Some of them are not going to be happy when they don't get a place and it's going to be a challenge for me.’
    • ‘You reflect on how the previous season has gone for a day or two, but you don't dwell on it too much.’
    • ‘The copies that do work are of inferior quality, and many of them don't work in any case.’
    • ‘He promises to come all the way into town to chaperone us, so that we don't get lost.’
    • ‘What I found during a weekend here is that you really don't want to do anything at all.’
    • ‘We don't have the strength of squad to take us through a whole season at that level.’
    • ‘I have a lot of work I have to do behind the camera, but I don't want to be in front of it.’
    • ‘We don't have a car or a TV and we cycle a lot so we were already viewed as slightly curious.’
    • ‘You don't know whether the teachers will approve of you or if you will make any friends.’
    • ‘I don't think I have ever read a book in which a sense of dread is so cleverly built up.’
    • ‘Needless to say, you can add other vegetables you like or take out any that you don't.’
    • ‘If you don't like how you work or what you do, it's absolutely up to you to change it.’
    • ‘You finish watching with the feeling that you don't really need to see the film at all.’
    • ‘I don't know what sort of firework it was or where it came from, but it must have been big.’

Usage

Don't is a contraction of do not. It is often used informally, especially in speech, as the equivalent of does not—as in, for example, she don't drink tea—but this is not standard English and should be avoided in writing