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A conversation between me and my friend:

Friend: I was sleeping when you called. And I do that everyday till 13:00.

Me: ok

~3 days later he replies to me at 10:00 already~

Now my question: Is it grammatically correct, if I say: “I thought you did sleeping everyday till 13:00!?” instead of “I thought you used to sleep till 13:00!?” / “I thought you slept till 13:00”

P.s Would be grateful if you correct any (english/grammatical etc.) mistake(s) in the question-text itself too! :)

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I thought you did sleeping everyday till 13:00.

This is grammatically incorrect. We usually don't use do + V-ing.

I thought you used to sleep till 13:00.

This is grammatically correct. However, "used to" here changes the meaning, and I think it doesn't correctly reflect what you want to say here. When you use used to, you're talking about a habit in the past that is no longer true in the present. (look up how to use used to for more information)

I thought you slept till 13:00.

This is grammatically correct. However, note that you're using "slept", which means you're talking about the past. If you want to talk about an on-going habit, use the present simple tense. By using simple past (slept), you're saying that your friend didn't sleep till 13:00 in the past (only at the time where they said "I do that everyday till 13:00").

Corrections:

I thought you sleep till 13:00.

This would be the correct form of your 3rd example. By using "sleep" (present simple), you're talking about something your friend does habitually everyday.

I thought you said (that) you sleep till 13:00.

This is another possible response. While the correction before means "I thought it was true that you sleep till 13:00", this version means "I thought you were telling me that. Did you lie?". (It doesn't have to mean "Did you lie?" but can also mean "You're not doing as you said".) This version questions their statement instead of the action of "sleep till 13:00".

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  • And how about “I thought you (said you) ‘do sleeping’ till 13:00?”
    – Stuggi097
    May 13, 2020 at 4:24
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    That doesn't work. "Do sleeping" probably wouldn't make sense anywhere.
    – ChocolateOverflow
    May 13, 2020 at 4:26
  • I agree with what you wrote except for one thing - I find “I thought you sleep..." and "I thought you slept…” equally acceptable in this context. Actually I think I’d be slightly more likely to say the latter. Once you’re talking about the past, it's common for a verb to be in the past tense even if the action/state is still ongoing - it doesn't mean the situation no longer holds. For example: "He asked me for a donation because he knew I was generous" - that doesn't imply at all that I'm no longer generous.
    – Josh Regev
    Oct 3, 2021 at 14:23

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