pleasehelp  +  949810 Thu, 22 Oct 09 02:11 PM Did you stay up all night in preparation for your study? How come in this sentence instead of stayed we use stay, the reason I ask is because the sentence begins with a past tense verb (did)?  Is it because of the modal rule(do/did) so stay is in its base form? pleasehelp Joined on Sun, Sep 20 2009 Regular Member 614 Tenses, Modals, Past Tenses, Sentences

	jemaasjr  +  949866 Thu, 22 Oct 09 03:55 PM pleasehelp “Did you stay up all night in preparation for your study? How come in this sentence instead of stayed we use stay, the reason I ask is because the sentence begins with a past tense verb (did)?  Is it because of the modal rule(do/did) so stay is in its base form? ” Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} I would like to know what the modal rule is if somebody would go into it.   Here I think it is the fact that you are asking a question. The verb is "did stay," as in "You did stay up all night." When you re-arrange things to ask a question, the verb tenses get left alone. jemaasjr Joined on Wed, Sep 30 2009 Full Member 136 JohnnyBoy Tenses, Modals, Past Tenses, Sentences, Styles

	Avangi  +  950244 Fri, 23 Oct 09 01:46 AM jemaasjr is right about the question. In US grammar school, we used to run through the tenses: present tense   -   I stay, do stay, am staying. We rarely use "I do stay" in this exact form, but it's absolutely essential for questions and negative statements. Do you often stay up late? Don't stay up too late! past tense   -   I stayed, did stay, was staying (The second one is defined as the past tense of "to do" plus the bare infinitive.)  Did you stay for the end of the game? I didn't stay to see the fireworks. Avangi Joined on Mon, Nov 19 2007 Veteran Member 8,171 ". . . le plaisir delicieux et toujours nouveau d'une occupation inutile." - Henri de Regnier Tenses, Negatives, Present Tenses, Universities, Past Tenses, Students, Schools, Negations

	CalifJim  +  950261 Fri, 23 Oct 09 02:25 AM pleasehelp “Is it because of the modal rule(do/did) so stay is in its base form?” Yes, that's the general idea, although the verb do (do, does, did) is not considered a modal, but an auxiliary verb. When a form of do co-occurs with another verb for which it is the auxiliary, the other verb is always in the base form.  This typically happens in negations and questions. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,383 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

	Avangi  +  950299 Fri, 23 Oct 09 03:55 AM May I know the gist of "the modal rule (do/did)" ?? And when is it correct to use the term "bare infinitive," and when is it correct to use the term "base form" ??    Avangi

	CalifJim  +  950847 Fri, 23 Oct 09 07:10 PM Avangi “May I know the gist of "the modal rule (do/did)" ” An infinitive without to goes after a modal verb:  can do, would see, should know, may decide, ...  Neither the modal nor the following verb is inflected.  This rule does not include do, which is inflected. Avangi “And when is it correct to use the term "bare infinitive," and when is it correct to use the term "base form" ??” They are equivalent.  But infinitive has more than four letters, so it's quicker to type base form!   Seriously, I usually try to answer in terms of the question.  If the questioner uses the term 'base form', I assume that's the term he or she is most familiar with from his or her classwork, so I answer using the same term.  Besides, the 'complicated' word infinitive bothers some learners, especially beginners. CJ CalifJim Verbs, Modals, Modal Verbs

	Avangi  +  950853 Fri, 23 Oct 09 07:26 PM Thanks.  I follow you> Avangi