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Use did and didn't with the base form of most verbs to make past simple questions and negatives.
Overview
Use did and didn't with the base form of most verbs to make past simple questions and negatives.
Form and rules
Use didn't + base verb for negatives: I didn't call.
Use Did + subject + base verb for yes/no questions: Did you call?
With a question word, use question word + did + subject + base verb: Where did they go?
After did or didn't, always use the base verb: did she see, not did she saw.
Do not use did with was/were: Was he there? not Did he be there?
A closer look
For most action verbs, use did for past questions and didn't for past negatives. Did carries the past tense information.
Because did is already past, the main verb stays in the base form: Did you go? not Did you went?; didn't see, not didn't saw.
Examples
I didn't work yesterday.
She didn't buy anything.
Did you see Carlos?
Where did they stay?
What time did the film start?
Common mistakes
After did, use the base form.
After didn't, use the base form.
Ready to practise?
The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.