Grammar: Do, Does, Did, Was, and Were

Using Do, Does, and Did

• Do, does, and did are forms of "to do."
• Do and does are present simple conjugations.
• Use do with I, you, we, or they; for example, "I do chores every Sunday".
• Use does with he, she, or it; for example, "My sister does homework every night".
• Did is the past simple form for all subjects.
• When using did, the time reference must be in the past; for example, "We did our homework last night".

Using Was and Were

• Was and were are past forms of "to be."
• Use was with I, he, she, it.
• Use were with you, we, they.
• These forms are common in past simple, past continuous, and passive voice.
• In the past simple: "Yesterday, I was late"; "Yesterday, you were late".
• In the past continuous: "Yesterday, I was running late"; "Yesterday, we were running late".
• In the passive voice: "I was surprised by the present"; "We were surprised by the present".

Do You vs. Are You

• Both do you and are you form questions in the present simple, but use different verbs and structures.
• Are you uses the verb "to be" for facts like nationality, job, or physical description; for example, "Are you American or British?".
• "Are you" question structure: verb + subject + object.
• Do you uses do as an auxiliary verb and needs a main verb.
• Do you asks about routines or habits; for example, "Do you live in London?".
• "Do you" question structure: auxiliary verb + subject + main verb + object.

Didn't and Wasn't

• Both didn't and wasn't are past simple negative forms.
• Wasn't is the negative past simple form of "to be," used with I, he, she, it.
• Didn't is an auxiliary verb with any base verb for a past simple negative sentence.
• The structure for didn't is subject + didn't + base verb.
• For example, "Yesterday, she wasn't there"; "Yesterday, I didn't go to bed at 10:30".

Five Common Verb Tenses

• The five most common verb tenses needed to speak English fluently: present simple, past simple, future simple, present perfect, present continuous.

Present Simple

• For I, you, we, and they, use the base verb.
• For he, she, it, add "s" or "es" to the base verb.
• Present simple describes routine habits, feelings, emotions, states of being, general facts and truths, and timetable events, even future ones.
• Adverbs of frequency often accompany the present simple, such as every day, always, often, usually, frequently, sometimes, rarely, seldom, and never.

Past Simple

• Subject + base verb + "ed" (for regular verbs) or use an irregular past simple verb.
• It describes actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past.
• Past simple keywords: yesterday, last week/month/year, in [year], at [time], hours ago, on [date], when I graduated, during the meeting.

Future Simple

• Subject + will + base verb.
• Used for predictions based on opinion, spontaneous actions/decisions, promises, commitments, offers, or refusals.
• Often used with opinion words like "I think".

Present Perfect

• I/you/we/they + have + past participle.
• He/she/it + has + past participle.
• Present perfect is used for completed past actions with present results and life experiences with unfinished timelines.
• It is also used for actions starting in the past and continuing to now (with "live," "work," and "study").
• A specific time reference cannot be used; use the past simple instead.

Present Continuous

• I + am + verb-ing.
• You/we/they + are + verb-ing.
• He/she/it + is + verb-ing.
• Present continuous describes actions currently happening.
• It can be used for planned future actions.

Verb Tenses Overview

• The lesson focuses on key verb tenses and common grammar mistakes in English.

Past Simple vs. Present Perfect

• The past simple describes a completed action in the past (e.g., "I already ate.").
• The present perfect describes a past action with a present consequence (e.g., "I've already eaten.").
• Native speakers often use past simple and present perfect interchangeably.
• Present perfect implies a connection to the present (e.g., "I've already eaten, so now I'm not hungry.").
• The connection to the present in present perfect is often implied, not verbalized.
• Examples:
  • "I talked to my boss" (past simple, completed action).
  • "I've talked to my boss" (present perfect, implies a present consequence like, "so now I'm going to leave.").
  • "I checked the mail" (past simple, completed action).
  • "I've checked the mail" (present perfect, implies a present consequence like, "so you don't have to.").
  • "I booked the hotel" (past simple, completed action).
  • "I've booked the hotel" (present perfect, implies a present consequence like, "so now we're going on vacation.").

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

• Using a different verb tense changes the meaning of the sentence.
• Present Simple:
  • Formed using the base verb, conjugated with the subject (e.g., "I live," "she lives").
  • Used for routines, permanent situations, or facts (e.g., "I live in Paris" implies a permanent situation).
• Present Continuous:
  • Formed using the verb "to be" conjugated with the subject and the verb in "-ing" form (e.g., "I am living," "she is living").
  • Used for situations taking place right now or temporary situations (e.g., "I'm living in Paris" implies a temporary situation).
• The present simple indicates permanence, while the present continuous indicates temporality.

"For" vs. "Since"

• For:
  • Used for duration (a time with a start and end).
  • Examples: "for 20 minutes," "for three weeks," "for seven months," "for 12 years".
  • Can be used with many different verb tenses.
• Since:
  • Used with a specific time, a precise moment in time.
  • Examples: "since 9:00 AM," "since last Monday," "since June 3rd, 2014".
  • Used with the present perfect and present perfect continuous tenses.
  • Indicates an action that started in the past, continues until now, and is still in progress.
• Common Mistake: "I've been learning English since two years" is incorrect.
• Corrected Sentence: "I've been learning English for two years."

"You and Me" vs. "You and I"

• Easiest Method: Drop the "you" or the other person and determine if "me" or "I" is correct in the sentence.
• Example:
  • "Give that to me" is correct, so "Give that to my brother and me" is also correct.
• "I" is always the subject of a sentence.
• "Me" is always the object of a sentence.
• Subject: The one doing the action.
• Object: The one receiving the action.
• Example:
  • "Can you take a picture of me?"
  • "You" is the subject, doing the action.
  • "Me" is the object, receiving the action.

Irregular Verbs

• Many irregular verbs exist in English.
• To be, was/were, been
• Become, became, become
• Begin, began, begun
• Bring, brought, brought
• Buy, bought, bought
• Choose, chose, chosen
• Come, came, come
• Do, did, done
• Drink, drank, drunk
• Drive, drove, driven
• Eat, ate, eaten
• Fall, fell, fallen
• Feel, felt, felt
• Find, found, found
• Fly, flew, flown
• Forget, forgot, forgotten
• Get, got/gotten, got/gotten
• Give, gave, given
• Go, went, gone
• Have, had, had
• Hear, heard, heard
• Keep, kept, kept
• Know, knew, known
• Leave, left, left
• Lend, lent, lent
• Let, let, let
• Lose, lost, lost
• Make, made, made
• Meet, met, met
• Pay, paid, paid
• Put, put, put
• Read, read, read (pronunciation changes)
• Run, ran, run
• Say, said, said
• See, saw, seen
• Sell, sold, sold
• Send, sent, sent
• Sing, sang, sung
• Sit, sat, sat
• Sleep, slept, slept
• Speak, spoke, spoken
• Stand, stood, stood
• Swim, swam, swum
• Take, took, taken
• Teach, taught, taught
• Tell, told, told
• Think, thought, thought
• Understand, understood, understood
• Wear, wore, worn
• Write, wrote, written