FORMING INTERROGATIVES AND NEGATIVES

Here are all the verb tenses once again:

Simple

Tenses

Continuous

Tenses

Perfect

Tenses

Perfect

Continuous

Tenses

Present

infinitive

(+s for

he/she/it)

see below for special rules

be (present)

+ present participle

have (present)

+ past participle

have (present)

+ been

+ present participle

Past

infinitive+ed

see below for special rules

be (past)

+ present participle

have (past)

+ past participle

have (past)

+ been

+ present participle

Future

will

+ infinitive

be (future)

+ present participle

have (future)

+ past participle

have (future)

+ been

+ present participle

COMPOUND TENSE INTERROGATIVES AND NEGATIVES

The shaded tenses are called compound tenses, because they consist of more than one word. The first word in a compound tense (will, have, or be) is called an auxiliary verb.

To form the interrogative of a compound tense, we invert the subject and the auxiliary.

Examples:

Tense	Affirmative	Interrogative
Pres. Continuous	You are studying English.	Are you studying English?
Past Continuous	He was working in England last year.	Was he working in England last year?
Pres. Perfect	He has worked here for 2 years.	Has he worked here for 2 years?
Future	They will take a 2 week vacation this summer.	Will they take a 2 week vacation this summer?

To form the negative for compound tenses, we place the word not after the auxiliary.

Examples:

Tense	Affirmative	Negative
Pres. Continuous	You are studying English.	You are not studying English.
Past Continuous	He was working in England last year.	He was not working in England last year.
Pres. Perfect	He has worked here for 2 years.	He has not worked here for 2 years.
Future	They will take a 2 week vacation this summer.	They will not take a 2 week vacation this summer.

SIMPLE TENSE INTERROGATIVES AND NEGATIVES

** The verb TO BE is a special case - see below **

The two unshaded tenses, simple past and simple present, are called simple because they consist of only one word. To form the interrogative and the negative, however, we first transform the tenses into compound tenses by using the auxiliary TO DO.

Compound PAST = did + infinitive

Compound PRESENT = do/does + infinitive

Then we form interrogatives and negatives in the same way as the other compound tenses.

( i.e. -invert the subject and auxiliary to form the interrogative

-add not after the auxiliary to form the negative )

Examples:

Affirmative	Change to Compound Tense by using a form of DO	Interrogative	Negative
I have a dictionary.	I do have a dictionary.	Do I have a dictionary?	I do not have a dictionary.
He works at Provigo.	He does work at Provigo.	Does he work at Provigo?	He does not work at Provigo.
She likes her job.	She does like her job.	Does she like her job?	She does not like her job.
He found $10.	He did find $10.	Did he find $10?	He did not find $10.
He did his homework.	He did do his homework.	Did he do his homework?	He did not do his homework.

Students learning how to form interrogatives and negatives for the simple tenses often make mistakes such as:

Does he plays hockey? and Did he played yesterday? (both are WRONG!)

Remember that when simple past or simple present is transformed into a compound tense, ONLY THE VERB "DO" IS CONJUGATED - THE OTHER VERB REMAINS IN THE INFINITIVE.

So the correct questions are:

Does he play hockey? and Did he play yesterday?

SPECIAL CASE - TO BE

The compound tense transformation is not required for the verb TO BE. We simply invert the subject and verb to form the interrogative, and add not after the verb to form the negative.

Examples:

Tense	Affirmative	Interrogative	Negative
Simple Past	He was late.	Was he late?	He was not late.
Simple Past	They were here early.	Were they here early?	They were not here early.
Simple Present	I am crazy.	Am I crazy?	I am not crazy.
Simple Present	He is your brother.	Is he your brother?	He is not your brother.