Negative form and questions

■ We use did in past simple negatives and questions:

infinitive	positive	negative	question
watch clean play do go have begin	I we you they he she it	watched cleaned played did went had began	I we you they he she it	did not (didn’t)	watch clean play do go have begin	did	I we you they he she it	watch? clean? play? do? go? have? begin?

 

■ do/does (present) -> did (past):

- I don't watch television very often.

- I didn't watch television yesterday.

- Does she often go out?

- Did she go out last night?

■ We use did/didn't + infinitive (watch/clean/do etc.):

I watched but I didn't watch (not 'I didn't watched¹)

he went but did he go? (not 'did he went?¹)

- I played tennis yesterday but I didn't win.

- Don didn't have breakfast this morning, (not 'Don hadn't breakfast')

- They went to the cinema but they didn't enjoy the film.

- We didn't do much work yesterday.

 

Exercise 4. Make the following positive sentences negative.

Example: She spoke to me at the party. — She didn't speak to me at the party.

He had to find a new job. — He didn't have to find a new job.

1. I bought some new clothes last week.
2. The train arrived on time.
3. You made a bad mistake.
4. They had to leave for the airport at 5 a.m.
5. She had a headache yesterday

 

■ Note the word order in questions with did:

did + subject + infinitive

What How Where

Did did did did

Sue you the accident your parents

give do happen? go

you a birthday present? yesterday evening?   for their holidays?

 

■ short answers

Yes, {I/we/you/they/he/she/it} did.

No, {I/we/you/they/he/she/it} didn’t.

 

- 'Did you see Joe yesterday?' 'No, I didn't.'

- 'Did it rain on Sunday?' 'Yes,it did.'

- 'Did Helen come to the party?' 'No, she didn't.'

- 'Did your friends have a good holiday?' 'Yes, they did. '.