did
- 1Past tense of do.
He did a thorough job repairing the old fence.
The volunteers did more than anyone had expected.
Note
One spelling does two jobs here. It is the past of do as a full verb (did the dishes), and it is also the past-tense helper that carries questions, negatives and emphasis. As a helper it takes the bare verb after it: did I make, never did like, did happen, never did made. Spenser in 1590 uses it simply to carry the tense in verse: his eyes did steep.
- 2Nonstandard past participle of do, heard especially in the Southern US. Standard English uses done.
By the time we arrived, she had did most of the cooking.
We had did everything right and still caught the blame.
Note
In Southern US speech and African American Vernacular English, did can stand where standard English puts done. It follows have and its contractions (shouldn't have did, haven't did anything), and Kodak Black's "Shoulda Woulda" (2013) builds a hook on should've, could've did. In standard writing, use done after have. Keep did for the ordinary past tense, unless you are reproducing dialect speech.
did is a form of do
do, verb: To perform or carry out an action, task, or activity, or the work needed on something, as in 'do your homework', 'do the dishes'. Full entry
- Spelling
- do → did: irregular (no -ed)
Use it in a sentence
Write your own sentence with did, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.