Simple Past: Negatives and Questions
100% Original Practice Test
Ask about a community toy-repair morning and explain what did not happen. Study the guide, practise 44 questions, then use what you know in four short speaking tasks.
Your Quick Grammar Guide
At a community toy-repair morning, people talk about jobs that happened or did not happen. Use did to build past negatives and questions with most main verbs. Read the whole meaning; a time phrase alone does not prove which tense is right.
1. How to Form It
Negative: didn’t + base verb
Pattern: subject + didn’t + base verb
Example: Jude didn’t mend the kite. We didn’t bring the string.
Did not is the full form. After did/didn’t use base verb, including irregular verbs: didn’t take, not didn’t took.
Questions and short answers
Question: Did + subject + base verb? Did Eli fix the wheel?
Short answers: Yes, he did. / No, he didn’t. In these short answers, use did or didn’t without repeating the main verb. Did works with every subject.
Be is different
For a past state, use was or were directly: The playroom was closed. Make it negative with was not / were not and ask with Was/Were + subject?: Was the room open? For an action, use did/didn’t + base verb: Did the helpers open it? Avoid: Did the room be open?
Wh-questions and who
For an object question use Wh-word + did + subject + base: What did Nia use? In a neutral question where who is the subject doing the action, use the past verb directly: Who fixed the handle? Compare: Who did Nia call? Here Nia is the subject, and who asks about the person she called. Emphatic questions can use did, but this beginner guide practises the neutral form.
2. Clue Words & Patterns
Read the whole situation
last Saturdayyesterdaytwo days agolast week
These phrases point to past time. After lunch and at noon can refer to different days, so read the whole situation too. Yesterday, Eli didn’t mend the kite is negative; Did Eli mend it? asks about that event.
Notice word order
Statement: They didn’t paint the box.
Yes/no: Did they paint the box?
Wh-question: What did they paint?
The main verb is base after did/didn’t. A short answer can be No, they didn’t.
3. Watch Out & Common Mistakes
Keep the past marker in one place
Wrong: We didn’t used the green tape.
Better: We didn’t use the green tape.
Why: Didn’t contains past did, so the main verb returns to base form.
Wrong: Did Freya brought the doll?
Better: Did Freya bring the doll?
Why: Use base form after did, even for irregular verbs.
Wrong: Where they did put the wheels?
Better: Where did they put the wheels?
Why: In an object Wh-question, did comes before the subject.
Wrong: Did the cupboard empty yesterday?
Better: Was the cupboard empty yesterday?
Why: Empty describes a state with be. Use was/were directly for past be questions: Was it empty? Were the shelves empty? Negatives use wasn’t/weren’t: The shelves weren’t empty. Do not put did before be.
Remember: check past meaning, did/didn’t pattern, base verb, and whether who is subject.
Quick check 1: The team didn’t (leave / left) the room.
Answer: leave. Didn’t takes the base verb.
Quick check 2: ___ Nia mend the drum yesterday?
Answer: Did. Put Did before the subject in a past yes/no question.
Quick check 3: Use fix to ask a neutral question: Who ___ the small car?
Answer: fixed. Who is the subject in this neutral question, so use the past verb directly.
Speaking: make it personal
Listen to each model, repeat it, then change the details to tell your own story. Speaking practice is for self-assessment and adds no points to the 44-question test.
Practice 1
Tell a partner one thing you didn't repair at a community toy morning and why.
Read the model
I didn't fix a toy train because its wheel was missing.
Practice 2
Ask your partner whether they brought one toy to a repair morning.
Read the model
Did you bring a toy to the repair morning?
Practice 3
Ask a Wh-question about what someone used to repair a toy.
Read the model
What did you use to mend the toy boat?
Practice 4
Say who completed one repair, then answer a yes/no question briefly.
Read the model
Mina fixed the toy drum. Did she finish it? Yes, she did.
Ready to check your work?
Submit to grade your whole test, OR use 👁 Show Answer per part / per question.
Learning review: what can you do now?
Can you use did and did not with a base verb? Ask a partner about yesterday, give a short answer and describe something you did not do.