Past Simple Negatives and Questions in Business
Core PathWay
1 Making Negatives and Asking Questions in Past Simple
Welcome back! In the last lesson, you learned how to talk about things you did at work using Past Simple. Now let’s learn how to say what you didn’t do and how to ask questions about past work activities.
Let’s start with negatives. When you want to say something didn’t happen in the past, you use didn’t (or did not in formal writing) with the base form of the verb. This works for ALL subjects – I, you, he, she, it, we, they. The formula is simple: subject + didn’t + base verb. For example: ‘I didn’t work yesterday’ or ‘She didn’t call the client.’ Notice that the main verb stays in its base form because didn’t already carries the time signal. You don’t say ‘I didn’t worked’ – that’s wrong!
Here’s an important rule: English doesn’t use double negatives. This means you can’t say ‘I didn’t never go to the meeting.’ Instead, you say ‘I never went to the meeting’ OR ‘I didn’t go to the meeting.’ Choose one negative word, not two!
Now let’s look at questions. For simple yes/no questions, we use this pattern: did + subject + base verb. Think of it as A.S.I. – Auxiliary verb (did), Subject (you, he, we), Infinitive (base verb). For example: ‘Did you work yesterday?’ To give a short answer, use: ‘Yes, I did’ or ‘No, I didn’t.’ You don’t need to repeat the whole verb.
For more complex questions with question words like when, where, what, why, and who, use this pattern: Qu.A.S.I. – Question word + Auxiliary verb (did) + Subject + Infinitive (base verb). Examples: ‘When did you finish the report?’ ‘Where did she meet the client?’ ‘What did they discuss?’
Be careful with the verb ‘be’! Questions with ‘be’ are different. Don’t use ‘did’. Instead, swap the subject and the verb: ‘Was the meeting long?’ ‘Were you at the office yesterday?’ The pattern is: was/were + subject. This is simpler than other verbs!
Key Terms
💬 monday_morning_catch_up
Sarah: “Hi Tom! Did you work at the weekend?”
Tom: “Yes, I did. I finished the budget report. Did you work?”
Sarah: “No, I didn’t. I needed a break! I was very tired last week. When did you finish the report?”
Tom: “I finished it on Sunday evening. But I didn’t send it yet. I want to check it today first.”
Sarah: “That’s smart. Was it difficult? The numbers were very complicated last month.”
Tom: “No, it wasn’t too bad. The new software helped me a lot. It was much faster than before.”
Sarah: “Great! Did you have a nice weekend too, or was it all work?”
Tom: “I worked on Sunday, but Saturday was nice. I went to the park with my family.”
