Verb forms
Base form
/duː/
Past Simple
/dɪd/
Past Participle
/dʌn/
Example sentences
Base form · do
- I always do my homework before dinner.
Past Simple · did
- He did everything he could to help us.
- She did without any hesitation.
- They did it again the following morning.
- He didn't do anything at the meeting.
Past Participle · done
- Have you done the dishes yet?
- She has just done the very same thing.
- By the time we arrived, they had done everything.
- We have never done anything quite like it.
Common collocations
do your best
to try as hard as you can
do the dishes
to wash the plates and cutlery
do homework
to complete school assignments
Key tenses
| Present Simple | Past Simple | Present Perfect |
|---|---|---|
I do he / she / it does | I did | I have done |
| Present Continuous:I am doing · he / she / it is doing | ||
Grammar guide
The verb "do" is fully irregular — all three principal parts are distinct: the base form "do", the past simple "did", and the past participle "done". The ABC group contains many of the most common and important verbs in English, so learning them is essential for fluency.
Use the past simple "did" for actions, events, or states that were completed at a definite point in the past. It is the main verb in the clause and needs no auxiliary: "We did the whole project in three days." Typical time markers include yesterday, last week, ago, when, and at + a specific time. The past simple is the most frequently used past tense in spoken and written English.
The past participle "done" is never used on its own as a main verb. It appears in: (1) the present perfect with have/has — "I have never done anything like it before"; (2) the past perfect with had — "She had already done before I arrived"; (3) passive voice with a form of be — "The final version was done by the whole team." These three structures together cover the great majority of perfect and passive constructions in English.
The ABC group demands the most memorisation because each verb has three unique forms to learn. Focus first on the highest-frequency verbs: be (was/were/been), do (did/done), go (went/gone), know (knew/known), take (took/taken), see (saw/seen), give (gave/given), and write (wrote/written). Regular reading and listening is the most effective way to make ABC verb forms automatic — passive exposure reinforces the patterns far better than drills alone.
Quick quiz
Which sentence is correct?
Conjugation pattern
All three forms are different — this group needs the most practice.