Final answer:
The statement is false. 'Finish' cannot replace 'did you' to form past tense questions as the 'did you' structure is essential for creating proper past tense interrogative sentences in English.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "The sign 'finish' can replace the 'did you' structure in English for past tense questions" is false. In English, the 'did you' structure is employed to form past tense questions, as in "Did you finish your homework?" This structure uses the auxiliary 'did' to indicate the past tense.
It is important to understand that auxiliaries like 'did', 'could', and others are part of the verb phrase and cannot be simply replaced with the word 'finish' or any other main verb to form a question. For example, the verb 'finished' is accompanied by the auxiliary 'could' in the sentence "I could finish my essay by eight o'clock tonight." The auxiliaries help convey different meanings and tenses in English.
There are verbs in English that have specific past tense forms ending with 't', such as 'feel' becoming 'felt'. However, this is a reflection of how English past tense forms have evolved over time, and such verbs are not interchangeable with the 'did you' structure for forming questions.