THE VERBS "DO, DOES AND DID"

Use do, does and did to talk about actions. Use do with the pronouns I, you, we and they, and with plural nouns. Use does with the pronouns he, she and it, and singular nouns. Did is the simple past tense of do and does.

For example:

Dad does the dishes.

Mom does the cooking.

We always do exercise together.

He does such interesting work.

They do amazing tricks.

Who did this drawing? - Henry did.

Sally did her hair in front of the mirror.

They did the dusting and cleaning.

Jane did all the laundry by herself.

You did well in the test.

I did poorly on my exam.

Here’s a table to remind you about the use of “do” and “does”:

Singular - Plural

First person: I do - we do

Second person: you do - you do

Third person: he does - they do, she does - they do, it does - they do

Here’s a table to remind you about the use of the verb did:

Singular - Plural

First person: I did - we did

Second person: you did - you did

Third person: he did - they did, she did - they did, it did they - did

Learn these contractions:

do not = don’t

does not = doesn’t

did not = didn’t

You can also use do, does and did as helping verbs to ask and answer questions. For example:

Do you like ice cream? - Yes, I do.

Does it rain often here? - Yes, it does.

Does he enjoy music? - Yes, he does.

Did it snow last night? - No, it didn’t.

Who wants to come with me to the zoo? - We all do!

What do you want for lunch?

Who broke this vase? - Peter did!

Does Ken often come home late? - Yes, he does.

Why did he leave so suddenly?

Does everyone have a dictionary?

Where did you find the wallet?

Do ducks like water? - Yes, they do.

Use do not, does not and did not to make other verbs negative.

The baby does not look very happy.

Dad did not catch his train.

The garden looks lovely, doesn’t it? - Yes, it does.

Cats do not like water.

I don’t enjoy difficult math tests.

Sophie doesn’t want to go to school.

He didn’t get to the station in time.

Don’t you have a ticket? - No, I don’t.

Don’t they go to the gym on Mondays? - Yes, they do.

Didn’t they win? - No, they didn’t.

You didn’t draw that picture yourself, did you?

Did you see the rainbow? - No, I didn’t.

Do not forget to switch off the air conditioner.

Don’t tell lies!

The baby does not look very happy.

Dad did not catch his train.

The garden looks lovely, doesn’t it? - Yes, it does