We can create any question to ask our friend so long as it makes use of the past tense short form. Try to create questions that challenge you to use the considerable amount of Japanese that you have by now learned.

Though we are learning them after long forms, short forms are more versatile and ubiquitous than long forms. This is for several reasons, the first of which is that they are used in many other kinds of verbal constructions that we will come to learn. The second reason is that most Japanese speech is had in the informal register. This includes conversations between friends, family, co-workers and classmates of the same age, and many electronic correspondences. However, as someone presumably not from Japan, you are better served by learning the longer, more polite form of words first; after all, you will want to come off as polite and considerate if you ever visit Japan. As you continue to study new Japanese verbal constructions, it may be more helpful to think of the short forms, past and non-past, as the base form of words from which we derive the long forms in situations when we want to be more polite.

We will ask our friend if they went to a party last week. We answer as follows:
先週、パーティーに行った？
（先しゅう、パーティーに行った？）

We can create any question to ask our friend so long as it makes use of the past tense short form. Try to create questions that challenge you to use the considerable amount of Japanese that you have by now learned.

Though we are learning them after long forms, short forms are more versatile and ubiquitous than long forms. This is for several reasons, the first of which is that they are used in many other kinds of verbal constructions that we will come to learn. The second reason is that most Japanese speech is had in the informal register. This includes conversations between friends, family, co-workers and classmates of the same age, and many electronic correspondences. However, as someone presumably not from Japan, you are better served by learning the longer, more polite form of words first; after all, you will want to come off as polite and considerate if you ever visit Japan. As you continue to study new Japanese verbal constructions, it may be more helpful to think of the short forms, past and non-past, as the base form of words from which we derive the long forms in situations when we want to be more polite.

We will ask our friend if they liked to study as a child. We answer as follows:
子供の時、勉強するのが好きだった？
（こどもの時、べんきょうするのがすきだった？）

We can create any question to ask our friend so long as it makes use of the past tense short form. Try to create questions that challenge you to use the considerable amount of Japanese that you have by now learned.

Though we are learning them after long forms, short forms are more versatile and ubiquitous than long forms. This is for several reasons, the first of which is that they are used in many other kinds of verbal constructions that we will come to learn. The second reason is that most Japanese speech is had in the informal register. This includes conversations between friends, family, co-workers and classmates of the same age, and many electronic correspondences. However, as someone presumably not from Japan, you are better served by learning the longer, more polite form of words first; after all, you will want to come off as polite and considerate if you ever visit Japan. As you continue to study new Japanese verbal constructions, it may be more helpful to think of the short forms, past and non-past, as the base form of words from which we derive the long forms in situations when we want to be more polite.

We will ask our friend if they were not tall in high school. We answer as follows:
高校の時、背が高くなかった？
（こうこうの時、せがたかくなかった？）