What should be the correct auxiliary verb, did or do?

Question

Which one is correct, “if you ever did it again?”  or “if you ever do it again?”
The act has already been done once by a character A, much to character B’s dislike. Now, if B warns A not to repeat the act anytime in the future, what would be the correct way?
Here B tries to warn A for the future. Like a child being scolded by a mother not to spill the sauce on the carpet ever again.
Also, I would like to know how and in what context the two differs. When should one select the one of the two, are there any rules for that?
I hope that clears up a bit!

Greybeard · Accepted Answer

Given the example of the spilled sauce, I would say “if you ever do that again”- this usually introduces a future threat “… I will pull your arm off and beat you to death with it.”
“if you ever do that again” has an immediacy to it and usually follows the action.
“if you ever did it again” is very context dependent but mainly expresses an opinion or advice given some time after the event:
A: “Yesterday, I climbed on the roof and fixed a hole.”
B “Good… but if you ever did it again, I would suggest that you use safety equipment.”
A: "The judge fined me £250 for stealing a TV."
B: “You were lucky – but if you ever did it again, he would send you to prison.”

What should be the correct auxiliary verb, did or do?

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question