I must admit you have tried but...

[mina]

Test No. incompl/inter-90 "Tenses", question 7

I must admit you ......... tried but I'm afraid the answer is still no.

(a) did
(b) will
(c) do
(d) have

Test No. incompl/inter-90 "Tenses", answer 7

I must admit you have tried but I'm afraid the answer is still no.

Correct answer: (d) have

Your answer was: incorrect
I must admit you did tried but I'm afraid the answer is still no.
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why?

[Alan]

It must be have because this is the Present Perfect. After did you must have the infinitive.
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English as a Second Language
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[Ryoga]

Hallo.
How about a situation, when 'do' has a meaning of 'really'. For example: I do love you.
Could it be said - You did tried - Meaning, that he 'Really' tried?

[Yankee]

Hi Ryoga

No, when you want to emphasize that someone really tried by using "did" in an affirmative sentence, you have to change "tried" to the infinitive:

You really did try!

As Alan said, you must use "did" with the infinitive.

Amy
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Ryoga]

Ok, thank you.

[oomniguy]

Hmmm.... "I do love you" is not the same at all as "I really love you" I really love you means I love you a lot and I do love you is simply a statement with no emphasis on a little or a lot. Really is sometimes interchanged with "truly". I see the statement "I do love you" as possibly being a lie thus I wouldn't categorize it with other words that overly emphasize truthfulness.

Some helpful examples on the "did tried" thing.

You did try
You tried
You are trying
You have tried
You will try
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Semper ubi sub ubi.

[Yankee]

Hey oomniguy

If you want to get technical, then you've got to admit that "I love you" is also sometimes a lie. Really!
(Hmmmm... now why did I write really there? Did I mean "a lot" or did I mean "truthfully" or did I just want to emphasize? Who knows...)

Truthfully yours,
Amy
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English