Gramática › Past Continuous Tense
Past continuous: frases negativas
450 ejercicios de huecos, 45 tests de diez
Not va entre was o were y la forma en -ing.
Practica esta forma
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La estructura
Not se mete detrás del auxiliar:
He was not sleeping. → He wasn’t sleeping.
Hay una sola contracción para cada forma, así que no hay nada que elegir: wasn’t y weren’t.
Corregir una suposición
El negativo de este tiempo niega muy a menudo lo que alguien acaba de suponer, y la corrección viene en la misma frase:
I wasn’t ignoring you, I was on a call.
Las dos mitades se quedan en continuous, y así las dos versiones del mismo momento quedan una al lado de la otra.
Con when y while
El negativo funciona en cualquiera de las dos mitades:
- When you phoned, I wasn’t working.
- While the others weren’t looking, he left.
Los verbos de estado, otra vez
Como no llevan -ing, su negativo pasado va en past simple:
I didn’t know. — no I wasn’t knowing.
Dónde se tuerce para un hispanohablante
«No estaba escuchando» coloca el «no» delante de «estaba», y en inglés va detrás de was: I wasn’t listening.
Y el calco de didn’t: «no estaba trabajando» no lleva did en ningún sitio. La regla práctica es la misma que en presente: si el verbo lleva -ing, el negativo se hace con be.
Todas las formas
| Sujeto | Forma completa | Forma corta |
|---|---|---|
| I, he, she, it | was not working | wasn't working |
| you, we, they | were not working | weren't working |
Ejemplos
Tomados de las 450 frases de este ejercicio. La respuesta va resaltada.
- They weren't going for a walk in the park at that time.
- Sarah and I weren't playing soccer at the park last Saturday.
- They weren't having breakfast when the power went out.
- I wasn't going to school yesterday because I was sick.
- The children weren't listening quietly while the teacher was talking.
- James wasn't playing basketball when it started raining.
- My sister wasn't doing her homework yesterday evening.
- He wasn't reading the newspaper when his friend called.
- She wasn't listening to music when I entered the room.
- The cat wasn't sleeping in the living room all day yesterday.
- They weren't eating at the restaurant when I saw them.
- She wasn't watching a movie at the cinema during that time.
Errores que evitar
Incorrecto: She didn't working. correcto: She wasn't working.
El auxiliar es was, no did. Did pertenece al past simple.
Incorrecto: We wasn't expecting you. correcto: We weren't expecting you.
We es plural, así que lleva weren't.