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What is your favorite color? Do you often wear fashion items in that color? As for me, my favorite color is green, but I felt it did not go well with my skin tone, so I used to avoid wearing it. One day, I realized that green has many shades, so I experimented with various shades of green and eventually, I found that a deep green helps me look great. If you like a certain color, you can try various shades like I did, and find one that suits you.

In the last sentence, what does did refer to?

I thought it meant "tried various shades". But some argues that it means "experimented with various shades of green". So the question is whether the auxiliary did can refer to a verb phrase in a previous sentence.

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  • It's a pro-form understood as tried various colors.
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 6:44
  • @BillJ So it can't mean "experimented with various shades"?
    – listeneva
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 7:04
  • No: that information is too far back in the discourse. "Like I did" is a comparative statement in the sentence If you like a certain color (then) you can try various shades like I did. Note that "then" can be inserted.
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 7:10
  • You can try various shades like I did. = You can try various shades like I tried various shades. The phrase could further be shortened to, You can do like I did.
    – EllieK
    Commented Apr 29, 2022 at 18:41

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The last "did" is referring to the speaker trying various shades of green (either clothing, or possibly makeup) until they found one they liked.

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  • Thanks. I too thought it meant "tried various shades". But some argues that it means "experimented with various shades of green". So the question is whether the auxiliary did can refer to a verb phrase in a previous sentence.
    – listeneva
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 6:08
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    I believe it is specifically shades of green, as it wouldn't have otherwise made sense to make a point of realizing there are many shades of green. It's about the person realizing they can use their favorite color despite initially thinking it wouldn't go with their skin tone. The lead-up simply wouldn't make sense if the person had settled on using shades of red.
    – SoronelHaetir
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 6:19
  • I'm asking if "did" can refer back to "experimented" in the previous sentence, as opposed to "tried" in the same sentence.
    – listeneva
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 6:25
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    No, did is used to avoid repeating the verb that has already been used in the same sentence.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 8:35
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    To be precise, it's used to avoid repeating a verb phrase that has already been used in the same sentence.
    – BillJ
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 9:00

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