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What is the correct sentence :

  1. What did you say?

or

  1. What did you said?

The second sentence seems correct, but I am not certain.

shin
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Anoracx
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2 Answers2

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The correct version is

What did you say?

The simple reason for this is that when you form a question like this in English, you use an auxiliary verb, in this case "do". When the question is in the past tense, you conjugate the auxiliary verb, but the main verb is just the bare infinitive, "say", and never changes.

What does he say?
What did he say?
What will he say?
What could he say?

Notice that "say" never changes, no matter how the auxiliary verb changes.

stangdon
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    how come you say that "say"never changes? What has he said? What do you say about it? – Khan Feb 18 '15 at 08:23
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    @Khan - You are right about "What has he said", but that's a question about a different tense, the present perfect. He has said X, so "What has he said?" But if "He said X", the question is "What did he say?" My point still applies to "what did he said", but you're right that my answer was a little too broad. – stangdon Feb 18 '15 at 20:34
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It is not about which sentence is correct, because sentence 2 is definitely wrong. The axiliary verb 'do' (bare infinitive) is used in interrogative in your example sentences. There are some good online dictionaries around and you may want to check them out first. Could you tell us why you asked this question or why it made you feel confused?

David Washington
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