2. We use Simple Past questions to ask what people did at a specific time in the past.
Simple Past Questions
Yes/No Questions
• We form them with the verb “to be” in the past:
- Was Carol late for school? - No, she was on time.
- Were the kids excited? - Yes, they were really happy.
• We form them with “did”
- Did Bruce open the door? - No, he opened the window.
- Did we invite Jenny to the party? - Yes, we sent her the invitation yesterday.
• The question form with “did” is the same for every person:
- Did I go to the park? - Did you listen to the radio?
- Did he visit his granny? - Did she like the song?
- Did it rain yesterday? - Did we have soup last night?
- Did they travel by train?
• BE CAREFUL
Did you go to the cinema last Saturday?
The main verb is in the infinitive
3. Simple Past Questions
WH-Questions
• WH-words:
- What..? - Who..? - When..? - Where..?
- Why..? - How..? -How many/much..? - Which..?
• We form them with a WH-word + verb “to be” in the past:
- What was your favourite toy? - My favourite toy was my doll.
- When were you guitar lessons? - They were on Mondays and Wednesdays.
- How many were absent? - Only 2 students were absent.
• We form them with a WH-word + “did”:
- Why did you cut your hair? - Because it was very long.
- Where did they have dinner? - They had dinner in Paul’s house.
- Who did you help? - I helped Tony and Wally.
4. Karen and Tom are talking about last night.
Read the conversation.
Can you identify the Yes/No questions? And the
WH-questions?
Remember that:
• You can answer Yes/No questions with “yes” or
“no”.
• You can answer WH-questions with any
information.
What did you do last night?
Did you have sushi?
Was Amanda with you?
Where did you go after that?
I went to a Japanese restaurant.
Yes, I did.
No, she wasn’t.
I walked home.
5. Karen and Tom are talking about last night.
Read the conversation.
Can you identify the Yes/No questions? And the
WH-questions?
What did you do last night?
Did you have sushi?
Was Amanda with you?
Where did you go after that?
I went to a Japanese restaurant.
Yes, I did.
No, she wasn’t.
I walked home.
Yes/No question
Yes/No question
WH-question
WH-question
