NOTES ON AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE, & INTERROGATIVE FORMS

NOTES ON AFFIRMATIVE, NEGATIVE, & INTERROGATIVE FORMS

AFFIRMATIVE

The affirmative of the simple past tense is simple.

• I was in Japan last year
• She had a headache yesterday.
• We did our homework last night.

NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of "do" as an ordinary verb, use the auxiliary "do", e.g. We didn't do our homework last night.
The negative of "have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "do", but sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction "n't".

The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "do".

EXAMPLES

• They weren't in Rio last summer.
• We didn't have any money.
• We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.
• We didn't do our exercises this morning.
• Were they in Iceland last January?
• Did you have a bicycle when you were young?
• Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Note: For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the auxiliary 'did''.

SIMPLE PAST, IRREGULAR VERBS

Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. Here are the most common ones.

TO GO

• He went to a club last night.
• Did he go to the cinema last night?
• He didn't go to bed early last night.

TO GIVE

• We gave her a doll for her birthday.
• They didn't give John their new address.
• Did Barry give you my passport?

TO COME

• My parents came to visit me last July.
• We didn't come because it was raining.
• Did he come to your party last week?