Usage of Don't
Don't is the earliest attested contraction of does not and until about 1900 was the standard spoken form in the U.S. (it survived as spoken standard longer in British English). Dialect surveys find it more common in the speech of the less educated than in that of the educated; in those places (such as the Midland and southern Atlantic seaboard regions) where it has lasted in educated speech, it is most common with older informants. Surveys of attitudes toward usage show it more widely disapproved in 1971 than it had been 40 years earlier. Its chief use in edited prose is in fiction for purposes of characterization. It is sometimes used consciously, like ain't, to gain an informal effect.
Examples of don't in a Sentence
Samantha Stutsman, People.com, 12 Apr. 2025
Here are some basic dos and don'ts when owning a cat.
—Molly Higgins, Wired News, 11 Apr. 2025
Correspondent Susan Spencer looks into the do's and don'ts of making a bucket list, and joins an 83-year-old who gets to live her dream of driving a race car, thanks to Wish of a Lifetime from AARP.
—David Morgan, CBS News, 10 Apr. 2025
Despite facing similar challenges, the two states are experimenting with wildly different solutions—once again becoming examples for the rest of the country of the dos and don'ts of a crisis that is expected to spread across the nation.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for don't
Cite this Entry
“Don't.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/don%27t. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.
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