When you need this

"How was your weekend?" is the Monday greeting in offices from Seattle to Shenzhen. Questions about the past are how coworkers, classmates and neighbors keep up with each other, and they are how you show interest in someone's life without being nosy.

The grammar has one rule that learners break most: in a question, "did" carries the past, so the main verb goes back to its base form. "Did you go?", never "Did you went?" The same happens with "didn't": "I didn't go." Once "did" is in the sentence, the other verb relaxes.

Start wide and then go narrow. "How was your weekend?" lets them choose what to tell you. Then follow what they say: "Oh, where did you go?" "Who did you go with?" Follow-up questions are what make a small chat feel like real interest.

Phrases

the standard Monday question

asks for the activities, not the feeling

a friendly, open follow-up

asks about the place

asks about the people

asks how it felt

short answers to "did" questions

a warm one-line answer about the past

fine, but not special

asks about the result of an event, test or meeting

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

  5. "Didn't" plus the base form: didn't go, didn't see, didn't eat.

Practice · 3 min

Ask or answer. Situation on the left, one natural line on the right.

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Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.