Level Two
Lesson 24
the past tense - negative
To make the past tense negative, add “did” and “not” to the main verb. The main verb remains in the simple form.
know / knew / known
did + not + the main verb
Affirmative: He knew the answer. (The main verb is in the past tense.)
Negative: He didn’t know the answer. (The main verb is in the simple form.)
In spoken English, the contraction “didn’t” combines did and not.
The Past Tense in English
Note: If the main verb is the verb “be” (was or were), you only add “not” to the verb. Lesson Nine shows you how to do that.
24a. the past tense - negative
Both regular and irregular verbs use “did” + “not.”
regular verb: work
work / worked / worked
Singular
I didn’t work.
You didn’t work.
He didn’t work.
She didn’t work.
It didn’t work.
Plural
We didn’t work.
You didn’t work.
They didn’t work.
irregular verb: go
go / went / gone
Singular
I didn’t go.
You didn’t go.
He didn’t go.
She didn’t go.
It didn’t go.
Plural
We didn’t go.
You didn’t go.
They didn’t go.
24a. Examples
- These boys didn’t go to school last Friday.
- They went to the skatepark.
- He didn’t feel well this morning.
- He felt sick.
We didn’t play golf yesterday.
- We played chess.
24b. These things didn't happen in the past:
- I didn’t wake up early this morning. I woke up late.
- We didn’t visit the state capitol. Instead, we visited the museum.
- Mario didn’t go to Colombia. He decided to go to Colombia instead.
- The sun didn’t come up until 7:00 a.m. this morning.
- The two countries didn’t agree with each other on a very important issue.
- Dahlia didn’t have a good time at the party. She had a bad time and went home early.
It’s possible to use the word “never” instead of “did” + “not” in order to form the negative. In this case, the main verb is in the simple past:
- Wally and Hilda never agreed with each other. They always disagreed.
- The students never liked their previous teacher. They were happy to get a new teacher.
- The mail never came today. What happened to the mail carrier?
We didn’t visit the Minnesota State Capitol. Instead, we visited the Weisman Art Museum.
Here’s an exercise for you to practice what you learned: past tense negative (PDF)
Part A. Directions: Change each sentence from affirmative to negative:
1. I had a good day today. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
2. Sheila went to school this morning. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
3. The bus arrived on time. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
4. It took a long time to finish. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
5. Jeff knew the answer to the question. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
6. They were on time. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
7. You were happy with the results. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
8. Mark walked to school. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
9. The kids ate all of their vegetables. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
10. We missed out flight. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
Part B. Directions: Write about two things you didn’t do today:
In Lesson Twenty-five, you will learn how to make questions in the past tense.
Here are the answers:
Part A. Directions: Change each sentence from affirmative to negative:
1. I didn’t have a good day today.
2. Sheila didn’t go to school this morning.
3. The bus didn’t arrive on time.
4. It didn’t take a long time to finish.
5. Jeff didn’t know the answer to the question.
6. They weren’t on time.
7. You weren’t happy with the results.
8. Mark didn’t walk to school.
9. The kids didn’t eat all of their vegetables.
10. We didn’t miss out flight.
