Affirmative, interrogative and negative form
Verbs in English come in three main categories: the affirmative, the negative, and the interrogative.
The affirmative= asserting that something is true or valid.
The negative= a reply denying something.
The interrogative= asking a question.
Here’s an overview of how each category is structured for most verb tenses in the English language.
Verb Tense | Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative |
Present Simple | I see you. | I don’t see you. | Do I see you? |
Present continuous | She is reading. | She is not reading. | Is she reading? |
Past simple | I cooked dinner. | I didn’t cook dinner. | Did I cook dinner? |
Past simple continuous | They were skiing. | They weren’t skiing. | Were they skiing? |
Present perfect | We have seen it. | We haven’t seen it. | Have we seen it? |
Present perfect continuous | We’ve been singing. | We haven’t been singing. | Have we been singing? |
Past perfect | She had studied. | She hadn’t studied. | Had she studied? |
Past perfect continuous | She had been studying. | She hadn’t been studying. | Had she been studying? |
Future simple | I will travel. | I won’t travel. | Will I travel? |
Future simple continuous | He will be travelling. | He won’t be travelling. | Will he be travelling? |
Future perfect | He will have finished. | He won’t have finished. | Will he have finished? |
Future perfect continuous | He will have been finishing. | He won’t have been finishing. | Will he have been finishing? |
Conditional | It would work | I wouldn’t work. | Would it work? |
Conditional continuous | They would be running. | They wouldn’t be running. | Would they be running? |
Conditional perfect | She would have been happy. | She wouldn’t have been happy. | Would she have been happy? |