Is this question right ?

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ESL forum > Ask for help > Is this question right ?

Is this question right ?

miss noor

Is this question right ?

Hi,

Can you tell me if this quesion is right :

what did people always do in the past ?

We can �t use always to talk about something in the past, can we ?

if not how can I ask this question ???

Best Regrads,

Noor

15 Jan 2010

maybe;

What did people use to do in the past?

15 Jan 2010

the_nurse78

HI!

I THINK THE QUESTION SHOULD BE:

WHAT WOULD PEOPLE DO IN THE PAST?

15 Jan 2010

miss noor

thanks a lot dears

15 Jan 2010

ayda louhichi

you should substitute "always" with "used to"

15 Jan 2010

ayda louhichi

To the Nurse78: Are you sure of your suggestion?

15 Jan 2010

Always� and �never� can be used with a simple past tense verb, although they are more

often used with verbs in the perfect tenses, the simple present tense or

simple future tense. Here are some examples of the use of these two

adverbs with simple past tense verbs:

�Ellie was always very good at art.� (example in Oxford Advanced Learner�s Dictionary 2005)

�I always thought I�d have children eventually.� (example in online Cambridge Advanced Learner�s Dictionary)

�In those years we always did well against them in one-on-one games.�

(http://sport.guardian.co.uk/smalltalk/story/0,,1926382,00.html)

Personally, I don �t think � �what did people always do in the past�� is

grammatically incorrect, but most of the time people do use ��what did people use to do

in the past��?

15 Jan 2010