How to Use Had in Negative Answers about Completed Action

We learned to use ‘had’ in affirmative answers about the completed action in the previous lesson. We have seen that we can use ‘had to show the completed action in the past tense.

In this lesson, we shall learn to form negative answers about the completed action in the past using ‘had’.

Construction of a negative answer using ‘had’

The structure of a negative answer is as follows:

• No, + subject (any singular or plural noun) + had not + past participle of the main verb+ other words + full stop (.)

Formation of short negative answers using ‘had’

We use the first verb of a question to form the short answer. It may be an auxiliary verb or a form of ‘be.

We use ‘had at the start of a question about a completed action in the past. And we answer the questions starting with ‘had in the past tense.

So, the formation of a short negative answer is as follows:

• No, + subject (any singular or plural noun) + hadn’t + full stop (.)

Examples of ‘had’ in a negative answer

Let’s see how to use ‘had’ in the negative answers about the completed action with some examples.

In brief, we can say:

• No, I hadn’t.
• No, we hadn’t
• No, you hadn’t
• No, he hadn’t.
• No, she hadn’t.
• No, it hadn’t.
• No, they hadn’t.

Here are some examples. The formation is as above.

Let’s Have a look-

1. No, I had not arranged all the beads in a garland.
   (No, I hadn’t.)
2. No, he had not stood in front of her in the meeting.
   (No, he hadn’t.)
3. No, the inhabitants had not appeared to me.
   (No, they hadn’t.)
4. No, I had not already told them about this issue.
   (No, I hadn’t.)
5. No, you had not told me then that the theatre was packed.
   (No, you hadn’t.)
6. No, we had not gone the wrong way.
   (No, we hadn’t.)
7. No, she had not forgotten to bring her lunch.
   (No, she hadn’t.)
8. No, they had not paid too much for a single room in that hotel.
   (No, they hadn’t.)
9. No, a clutter of cats had not scared a snake on the ground.
   (No, it hadn’t.)
10. No, I had not set some rules for the students while working as a school principal.
    (No, I hadn’t.)
11. No, we had not visited our grandma’s town before vacation.
    (No, we hadn’t.)
12. No, they had not rented a car to visit a castle on a mountain.
    (No, they hadn’t.)
13. No, a cat had not caught four rats a day.
    (No, it hadn’t.)
14. No, you had not bought dinner for us.
    (No, you hadn’t.)
15. No, all the teachers had not watched our performance.
    (No, they hadn’t.)
16. No, he had not flown to Britain.
    (No, he hadn’t.)
17. No, I had not competed in the English words competition before.
    (No, I hadn’t.)
18. No, we had not done laundry last night.
    (No, we hadn’t.)
19. No, my friends had not waited for me to watch a movie.
    (No, they hadn’t.)
20. No, the maid had not cleaned the courtyard in front of our house.
    (No, she hadn’t.)
21. No, his brother had not taught him a lesson in English.
     (No, he hadn’t.)
22. No, he had not got a raise every year.
    (No, he hadn’t.)
23. No, yesterday morning, he had not jumped from a bar.
    (No, he hadn’t.)
24. No, my parents had not lived in harmony all their lives.
    (No, they hadn’t.)
25. No, she had not lost all her money to cure her husband’s illness.
    (No, she hadn’t.)
26. No, she had not fed my kids.
    (No, she hadn’t.)
27. No, he had not worked at an architectural firm for two years.
    (No, he hadn’t.)
28. No, you had not sustained all the pain.
    (No, you hadn’t.)
29. No, she had not kept me waiting for an hour.
    (No, she hadn’t.)
30. No, I had not run the business from my home.
    (No, I hadn’t.)

Related Lessons-

1. Use of ‘am’ to explain the state of being
2. Use of is to tell about the profession
3. Use of pronoun ‘these’ in questions
4. Use of will in negative answers
5. Use of have in the questions

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