When we want to ask questions about things that happened in the past, we use interrogative sentences in the simple past tense. These questions help us learn about past events, actions, and situations.
How to Form Past Tense Questions
To form questions in the past tense, we usually use these helping verbs:
– Did (for all subjects)
– Was (for singular subjects: I, he, she, it)
– Were (for plural subjects: you, we, they)
Structure of “Did” Questions:
Did + Subject + Main Verb (base form) + Rest of the sentence?
Examples:
– Did Sarah complete her homework?
– Did the birds fly south for winter?
– Did you eat breakfast this morning?
Structure of “Was/Were” Questions:
Was/Were + Subject + Rest of the sentence?
Examples:
– Was Tom sick yesterday?
– Were the children playing in the park?
– Was it raining last night?
Important Rules to Remember
- When using “did,” the main verb always stays in its base form
- “Was/Were” questions are mainly used with continuous actions or states of being
- The answer to a “did” question starts with “Yes, I/he/she/it/we/they did” or “No, I/he/she/it/we/they didn’t”
- The answer to a “was/were” question starts with “Yes, I/he/she/it was” or “No, I/he/she/it wasn’t” (similarly for were)
Question Words with Past Tense
We can also use question words (what, when, where, why, who, how) with past tense:
– What did you eat for dinner?
– When did the movie start?
– Where were you last night?
– Why did she cry?
– Who was at the door?
– How did you solve this problem?
