mean - (present tense) I, you, we, they
means - (present tense) he/she/it
meant - (past tense) I, you, he/she/it, we, they
When you have a "do" the "do" gets conjugated and the other verb does not change.
Examples are the best explanation:
- What DO I/you/we/they MEAN? (present)
- What DOES he/she/it MEAN? (present)
- What DID I/you/he/she/it/we/they MEAN? (past)
- What WILL __"__ MEAN? (future) (not common to use future tense with this phrase)
if there is no "do" then "mean" gets conjugated like normal:
- I/we/they MEAN (to say) that I had a good time. (present)
- He/she/it MEANS that we should go tomorrow. (preset)
- I/you/he/she/it/we/they MEANT to tell you. (past)
X "What do you MEANS?" X wrong
there are a several meanings(definitions) of "mean"
here are examples of two meanings (they are very similar) :
the meaning, definition
- What does this word mean? What is the meaning of this word?
- What does this sign mean? What is the meaning of this sign?
- It means we can't park here.
intend, want, plan
- I meant to study yesterday, but... I intended/wanted to study yesterday, but...
the common phrase "What do you mean?" is a little of both
- What do you mean? What is the meaning of your words? or What do you intend to say?
Sorry, that was a long answer. I hope it doesn't confuse you.
Keep it up!!
- I mean that