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Could you help me to distinguish (what is the difference between these...?) these two confused sentences? Before you do, please explain clearly. Thank you.1. I did play. 2. I played.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Could you help me to distinguish (what is the difference between these...?) these two confused sentences? Before you do, please explain clearly. Thank you.

1. I did play.

2. I played.

Both are OK, although you would usually say #2 instead of #1.

Various tenses involve both main and auxiliary verbs. This is the Simple Past tense, and its auxiliary is 'did'. For a simple and positive statement, the auxiliary is not normally used, but we see it in negatives and in questions. eg

I played.

I did not play.

Did you play?

Didn't you play?

You played, didn't you?

You played, did you?

When you say 'I did play' instead of 'I played', it is often because you want to add emphasis.

Mary: You didn't play.

Tom: You are wrong. I did play, I did, I did, I did.

Best wishes, Clive

Anonymous52111 · Answer

Understood perfectly. Merci. <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

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