Past Simple: negatives and questions with “did”

The most common Past Simple mistake is “I didn’t bought”. The fix is one rule: after did or didn’t, the verb always goes back to its base form.

Positive sentences: the second form of the verb

In a positive sentence, the past verb takes its second form (V2). Regular verbs add -ed; irregular verbs have their own form. As soon as you add did or didn’t, that form is replaced by the base form. For more on regular and irregular verbs, see our Past Simple post.

• I bought a new dress.A finished action in the past; “bought” is the V2 of “buy”.
• She went to Lviv last year.“went” is the irregular past of “go”.

Regular verbs: play → played, work → worked. Irregular ones (buy → bought, go → went) have to be memorised. The full list is in our irregular verbs table.

Negatives: didn’t + base form

To make a negative, put didn’t (short for did not) before the verb and use its base form: didn’t buy, never didn’t bought. The form is the same for every subject: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

• I didn’t buy a new skirt.Negative: no past ending and no V2 after didn’t.
• He didn’t call me yesterday.The same structure with a third-person subject.
• We didn’t go out.“didn’t go”, not “didn’t went”.

Questions: Did + subject + base form

Start with Did, then the subject, then the verb in its base form. In short answers, repeat did or didn’t instead of the main verb: Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t. — not Yes, I bought.

• Did you buy a new skirt?A yes/no question.
• Did they finish the project?The auxiliary “did” comes before the subject.
• Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.Short answers use did / didn’t.

Question words: What did you buy?

For questions about details, put the question word first: What / Where / When / Why / How + did + subject + base form. The word order is the same as in a yes/no question.

• What did you buy?Asking about the object.
• Where did you go on Sunday?Asking about the place.
• Why didn’t he answer?A negative question asking for a reason.

Common mistakes

• I didn’t went → I didn’t go: after did and didn’t there is no second form.
• Did you bought…? → Did you buy…?
• I didn’t was → I wasn’t: with to be, don’t use did. Use was / were, and for questions: Were you at home?
• Yes, I bought → Yes, I did: short answers repeat did.
• I did buy in a plain statement sounds emphatic, like “I did buy it, after all”. For a neutral statement, say I bought.

Don’t confuse Past Simple with Present Perfect: if the action was completed at a specific time (yesterday, in 2019), use Past Simple. We explain the difference in Present Perfect vs Past Simple.

Check yourself

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