Introduction
The past simple is the tense used to express situations, events and actions that happened in the past.
When expressed in its interrogative form, it is used to ask questions about the past.
Form
The past simple of both regular and irregular* verbs in its interrogative form has this structure:
Did + subject + verb + …?
- Did is the past form of the verb do.
| Did | Subject | Verb | Question Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Did | I | work | …? |
| Did | you | work | …? |
| Did | he | work | …? |
| Did | she | work | …? |
| Did | it | work | …? |
| Did | we | work | …? |
| Did | you | work | …? |
| Did | they | work | …? |
*Questions and negatives of irregular verbs have the same structure as regular verbs.
Example
- Did I bake delicious biscuits yesterday?
- Did he study a lot for the exams?
- Did she do any exercise last Monday?
- Did they travel around the world last year?
Use
We use the past simple, in the interrogative form, to ask questions about:
- Short finished actions and events that occurred;
- Long finished situations that occurred;
- Repeated events and habits that took place in the past;
- Past events with time expressions such as: two weeks ago, last year, in 2010, yesterday…
Summary
We use the past simple, in its interrogative form, to ask about situations that occurred in the past and have now concluded.
The structure is:
Did + subject + verb + …?
For example:
— “Did they work on an important project yesterday?” = We use the past simple to ask questions about a past event.
Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.