what's the difference between 'Did you come alone?' and 'Do you come alone?' ?

[conjecture]

what's the difference between 'Did you come alone?' and 'Do you come
alone?' In what situation they are used.

Thanks

[my-wings]

"conjecture" <chris...@webminingpro.com> wrote in message
news:8dfd8v4d7apfpnjdm...@4ax.com...

> what's the difference between 'Did you come alone?' and 'Do you come
> alone?' In what situation they are used.
>

"Did" indicates that you want an answer to some specific event that is now
in the past. "Did you read the newspaper this morning?" "Did you finish your
journalism course?" You might use the example sentence when meeting someone
at a party, to ask about an event, their arrival, that is already in the
past: "Did you come alone?"

"Do" indicates that you are referring to an ongoing activity. "Do you read
the newspaper in the mornings?" "Do you like the journalism course you are
taking?" It's hard to imagine a case where "Do you come alone?" (to a social
engagement, for instance) would make sense or sound natural, because by the
time one is asking the question, the event being questioned (the arrival) is
already in the past.

There is another possible case where "Do you come alone?" could make sense,
but it would be considered very rude in most cases. I will leave it to
somebody else to explain, if they wish, but my suggestion is to never use
the "Do you come alone?" version, thus avoiding any potential
misunderstandings.

Alice