Was the meeting happened yesterday?

[suniljain]

Was the meeting happened yesterday?

Is this sentence correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

Was the meeting happened yesterday?

Is this sentence correct?

No.

Did the meeting happen yesterday?

Note that I have changed your thread title. Titles should be unique and contain some/all of the words/phrases/sentences you are asking us about. "English sentence" is far too generic!

 

[Tarheel]

No. Say:

Did the meeting happen yesterday?

Or:

Did they have the meeting yesterday?

 

[Tdol]

Or:

Did the meeting take place yesterday?

 

[Skrej]

You could also say "Was the meeting yesterday?"

 

[suniljain]

You could also say "Was the meeting yesterday?"

Please help me to understand why can't we use "happened" after 'meeting?

 

[jutfrank]

Please help me to understand why can't we use "happened" after 'meeting?

This is very basic grammar. The tense used here is past simple. To make past simple questions, you need the auxiliary verb did and a main verb in the infinitive form:

Did the meeting happen yesterday?

 

[suniljain]

This is very basic grammar. The tense used here is past simple. To make past simple questions, you need the auxiliary verb did and a main verb in the infinitive form:

Did the meeting happen yesterday?

No. Say:

Did the meeting happen yesterday?

Or:

Did they have the meeting yesterday?

Could you please help me to understand why can't we write as below-

Was the meeting happened yesterday?
Was the meeting happen yesterday?

We can ask questing begin with "was" as below-
Was there somebody at the door?
Was that your brother?

 

[suniljain]

This is very basic grammar. The tense used here is past simple. To make past simple questions, you need the auxiliary verb did and a main verb in the infinitive form:

Did the meeting happen yesterday?

Just to understand infinitve form is preceded by"to".

 

[jutfrank]

Could you please help me to understand why can't we write as below-

Was the meeting happened yesterday?
Was the meeting happen yesterday?

These are both wrong. As we've said, you need to start with Did:

+ The meeting happened yesterday.
- The meeting didn't happen yesterday.
? Did the meeting happen yesterday?

In these sentences, the main verb is happen. The negative and question forms use an infinitive that is not preceded by 'to'.

We can ask questing begin with "was" as below-
Was there somebody at the door?
Was that your brother?

That's right. We start with Was only when the verb be is the main verb of the sentence:

+ That was your brother.
- That wasn't your brother.
? Was that your brother?

 

[teechar]

Was the meeting happened yesterday?

That's a passive structure, and the reason it's wrong is that "happen" is an intransitive verb (it cannot take an object), so it cannot work in the passive voice. However, if you change the verb, then the sentence can work. For example:

Was the meeting held yesterday?

This sentence works because "hold" can be a transitive verb.

Was the meeting happen yesterday?

No. That is ungrammatical.

We can ask questing begin questions beginning with "was" as below-
Was there somebody at the door?
Was that your brother?

Yes, of course.

 

[Tarheel]

Please help me to understand why we can't use "happened" after 'meeting?

Normally we wouldn't use "to" there.

 

[5jj]

Normally we wouldn't use "to" there.

We can in BrE.

 

[emsr2d2]

There are only three ways to use "happen" in past tense questions:

1. Did it happen ...?
2. Has it happened ...?
3. Was it happening ...?

 

[jutfrank]

2. Has it happened ...?

(That's present tense, by the way.)

 

[emsr2d2]

(That's present tense, by the way.)

True! Thanks. I should have said "when referring to a past timeframe" and added "Had it happened ...?"

 

[teechar]

And of course, there are the past perfect simple (had happened) and continuous (had been happening) tenses.

 

[tedmc]

I don't find "meeting happened" natural.

These are more common:
Was the meeting held yesterday? Did the meeting proceed (as planned) yesterday?

There is no such thing as "something was happened". Something happened or did not happen. You can make certain things happen.
"Something happened" implies it is not planned for.

 

[Yankee]

There are only three ways to use "happen" in past tense questions:

1. Did it happen ...?
2. Has it happened ...?
3. Was it happening ...?

....and 4. Had it happened (before the lights dimmed) ?

 

[suniljain]

That's a passive structure, and the reason it's wrong is that "happen" is an intransitive verb (it cannot take an object), so it cannot work in the passive voice. However, if you change the verb, then the sentence can work. For example:

Was the meeting held yesterday?

This sentence works because "hold" can be a transitive verb.


No. That is ungrammatical.

Yes, of course.

That's a passive structure, and the reason it's wrong is that "happen" is an intransitive verb (it cannot take an object), so it cannot work in the passive voice. However, if you change the verb, then the sentence can work. For example:

Was the meeting held yesterday?

This sentence works because "hold" can be a transitive verb.


No. That is ungrammatical.

Yes, of course.

We can ask questing begin questions beginning with "was" as below-
Was there somebody at the door?
Was that your brother?

Can we write as:-

We can ask question begins with "was" as below:-