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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Do you mean vs. Did you mean
Hello,
Could you please tell me when do we use "Do you mean...?" vs. "Did you mean...?"?
I understand we use this phrase to make sure we understand what someone has said. What I'm confused about is when someone said something, it means he meant something. I would say this should always be in simple past tense, that is "Did you mean...?", shouldn't this? I know I'm wrong, though. Kindly explain.
Please feel free to edit my post for any grammatical errors. I am eager to learn.
Thanks in advance for your clarification.
Could you please tell me when do we use "Do you mean...?" vs. "Did you mean...?"?
I understand we use this phrase to make sure we understand what someone has said. What I'm confused about is when someone said something, it means he meant something. I would say this should always be in simple past tense, that is "Did you mean...?", shouldn't this? I know I'm wrong, though. Kindly explain.
Please feel free to edit my post for any grammatical errors. I am eager to learn.
Thanks in advance for your clarification.
Top answer
hello! ", rather than "what did you mean", as Past Simple refers usually to some action in the past, which is finished by now. " Michal
- hello!
- ", rather than "what did you mean", as Past Simple refers usually to some action in the past, which is finished by now.
- " Michal
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11 Answers
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hello!
When you talk to somebody and he/she says something you don't quite understand, you are far more likely to ask "what do you mean?", rather than "what did you mean", as Past Simple refers usually to some action in the past, which is finished by now.
For example:
A: "Yesterday my teacher told me mind my own business."
B: "What did he mean?"
Michal
When you talk to somebody and he/she says something you don't quite understand, you are far more likely to ask "what do you mean?", rather than "what did you mean", as Past Simple refers usually to some action in the past, which is finished by now.
For example:
A: "Yesterday my teacher told me mind my own business."
B: "What did he mean?"
Michal
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Yesterday my teacher told me to mind my own business.
You can't leave out the to in this sentence.
You can't leave out the to in this sentence.
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Ahh, yes! Sorry for the typo!
Of course, it's "tell somebody to do something".
Of course, it's "tell somebody to do something".
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Thanks Michal and Ivanhr for your response. I really appreciate it!
So if I was talking on the phone to someone and I didn't quite catch what he/she said earlier in our conversation, I should say, for example, "Do you mean you do not accept cheques?". Is this correct?
So if I was talking on the phone to someone and I didn't quite catch what he/she said earlier in our conversation, I should say, for example, "Do you mean you do not accept cheques?". Is this correct?
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For sure not "Did you mean that you don't accept cheques", but I don't guess that "do you mean...." is a good way of asking somebody to repeat what they have just said.
Say simply: "I'm sorry, could you repeat?", or in more informal situation you can say "come again?".
Questions that start with "do you mean...." are rather used when you are unsure what the other person meant, no
Say simply: "I'm sorry, could you repeat?", or in more informal situation you can say "come again?".
Questions that start with "do you mean...." are rather used when you are unsure what the other person meant, no
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I will take note of that. Thanks, Michal, for your assistance in this. Great help!
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Just a follow up question, do we also say "Do you mean...?" instead of "Did you mean...?" for asking a person to clarifiy something going back to what he said earlier, like 5 minutes ago, in a conversation on the phone?
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I think it all depends on the context. I imagine it's possible under some specific circumstances to say that, for example :
A: By the way, at the beginning of our conversation you said XY. What did you mean by that?
B: Well, I meant ......
In a normal conversation, however, when person A says one thing and person B replies immediately, he would ask "what d
A: By the way, at the beginning of our conversation you said XY. What did you mean by that?
B: Well, I meant ......
In a normal conversation, however, when person A says one thing and person B replies immediately, he would ask "what d
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No problem. I'm glad I helped.
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I'm glad I helped.By the way, if you like the forums you should consider becoming a registered member so that
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