Done vs Did with Sentence Examples

Today we’ll be discussing two commonly confused English words done and did. And discuss the correct usage along with example sentences to understand the concepts better.

Done and did are generally confused because both represent the action in past and are derived from the verb ‘do’.

Let’s see one example before starting.

Correct : I did your work.

Incorrect : I done your work.

It is incorrect to write ‘I done’ and the correct way is ‘I did’.  Now let’s discuss how to use these two words correctly.

When to Use Did and Example Sentences

The English word done is the past participle form of the word do, and it is usually used to highlight an event / action that happened in the past.

Examples of sentences using did :

1. I did it.
2. She did the whole work.
3. I did not do it.
4. Gaurav did it without the permission.
5. Robert did the cooking and I did the dishes.
6. I did this because of you.
7. She did her best to help him.

How to use of Did in asking questions :

1. How did you do it ?
2. What did I do to you ?
3. Did you know him ?
4. Did you like the way I dance ?
5. Why did he run away?

When to use Done and Example Sentences

The English word seen is the past participle of the word see and generally used to make a compound verb with words like had, have, has, was or were.

5 examples of sentences using done :

1. He has done it.
2. I have done your work.
3. She has done the dishes.
4. Players have done their best.
5. Ekta has done it couple of times.

Use of done in asking questions :

1. Have you done it ?
2. Is it done ?
3. What have I done to you?
4. Are we done talking now?

From the above examples we can infer that Pronoun (you, I, It etc.) + done , is used in asking question.

Notice in the above examples did is a standalone verb and does not require any other verb. Try replacing did with done and you’ll see the sentence doesn’t make a completed sense.

For example :

correct : I did the work .

Incorrect : I done the work.

If we still want to write the above sentence with done we should use the extra verbs like have, had etc.

Correct : I have done the work.

Let’s look at a conversation using both did and done together.

Example : Did you complete that work ?, Yes I have already done it.