English is a prevalent and necessary language nowadays, and you cannot do without it. Verb DO is spoken by most of society and is a much-needed language for communication on holidays and at work or school.
But learning English, especially for self-taught learners, may be challenging. That’s why we’ve prepared a short article with a few examples to help you learn something new together.
We are talking about irregular verbs crucial for everyday English communication. You need to know them to be clear in the spoken word and incomprehension. That’s why we’re going to take a look at some irregular verbs.
Irregular verbs
These are verbs whose forms we need to learn. Each irregular verb has three states that are either spelled completely differently or have different pronunciations.
To understand and use the tenses correctly, we must know these verbs by heart. Fortunately, for everyday conversation, we will only need some basic verbs.
The verb DO
The verb DO, or to do, is undoubtedly one of English’s most commonly used verbs. That is why we need to know and be able to use all its forms.
The past tense DO requires knowledge of these forms. Without them, we could not form the past tense at all.
Forms of the verb DO
Infinitive: DO /dʊ/
Past tense: DID /dɪd/
Past Participle: DONE /dʌn/
Past simple DO
The simple past tense expresses an action that took place in the past. The move could have happened once or repeatedly.
There is a little catch with this verb, so read carefully.
We form this tense using the 2nd form of the verb DO (i.e., DID). For the simple past tense, we don’t make any distinction between singular and plural, so we always use the verb DID for affirmative sentences.
Negative sentences of the verb DO
Watch out for negative sentences. We use the verb in the infinitive to form a negative – that is, DO, and the verb expresses the negative meaning of the sentence “did not/didn’t.” So we have to combine the infinitive DO with the verb DIDN’T.
The verb DIDN’T does replace the infinitive DO here. Therefore, we need to use/write both verbs even though they are the same. The resulting form will be “DIDN’T DO,” not just “DIDN’T.”
Examples:
“I didn’t that! “– Wrong
“I didn’tdo that! “– Correct
“I did that. “
Past tense continuous DO
We use the verb DO in combination with the ending -ing for the past continuous tense. However, you need to add the adjective “was/were” before the verb in the form DOING. If the sentence’s meaning is negative, we use “was not/wasn’t” or “were not/weren’t.”
When to utilize WAS and when to operate Lived?
It’s simple. WAS is used when the subject acting is 1st or 3rd person singular. If the subject in the sentence is “I did/he did,” we will use the WAS form.
For other persons, we use the Lived form. However, we often find that the verb Lived is used by every person ultimately. However, it is grammatically correct to distinguish these two forms.
Examples:
- I was doing my homework all night.
- You were doing your homework all night.
- They were doing their homework only some of the night.
English is a beautiful language in which to improve continually. Therefore, all it takes is diligence, establishing a learning routine, and a positive attitude, and the results will present themselves. You may travel abroad in six months and have no problem talking to the locals.