“I do it last year.” Sound familiar?

“I do it last year,” he said proudly.
And I smiled, because I’ve heard that sentence a thousand times.

It’s the German brain doing gymnastics:
Ich habe das letztes Jahr gemacht → I have done it last year → I do it last year.

Totally logical.
Just not English.

Here’s the simple fix:
👉 Finished time → I did
👉 Ongoing time → I have done

✅ I did it yesterday.
✅ I have done it many times.

That’s all. No grammar book. No guilt.

So if you’ve ever said “I do it last year,” don’t panic.
You’ve just spoken fluent German-English.

And the best part?
Everybody still understands you.

🔥 Try this:

Notice one sentence today where you’d normally say ‘I have done’ – and check if it’s actually finished time.