Formation of questions and negatives

Students often find it difficult to make questions in the simple present and simple past tenses because affirmative sentences in these tenses do not have auxiliary verbs.

We use do and does to make questions and negatives in the simple present tense. Do is used with plural nouns and pronouns. The first person singular ‘I’ also take the auxiliary do. Does is used with singular nouns and pronouns.

We use did to make questions and negatives in the simple past tense.

It is used with both singular and plural subjects.

Examples are given below.

Alice sings well. (Affirmative)
Alice does not sing well. (Negative)
Does Alice sing well? (Question)
Peter called in the morning. (Affirmative)
Peter did not call in the morning. (Negative)
Did Peter call in the morning? (Question)

Exercise

Change the following affirmative sentences into negative and interrogative sentences.

1. Sophia works hard for her family.

2. Alice won the first prize in the singing competition.

3. Martha went to live abroad.

4. James smokes a lot.

5. She spends a lot of money on cosmetics.

Answers

1. Sophia does not work hard for her family. / Does Sophia work hard for her family?

2. Alice did not win the first prize in the singing competition. / Did Alice win the first prize in the singing competition?

3. Martha did not go to live abroad. / Did Martha go to live abroad?

4. James does not smoke a lot. / Does James smoke a lot?

5. She does not spend a lot of money on cosmetics. / Does she spend a lot of money on cosmetics?