Gramática › Past Continuous Tense
Past continuous: frases afirmativas
450 ejercicios de huecos, 45 tests de diez
Was para I, he, she e it. Were para you, we y they. Y después el verbo con -ing.
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La estructura
El auxiliar concuerda con el sujeto; la forma en -ing no cambia nunca:
I was waiting. You were waiting. She was waiting.
La escritura de la forma en -ing sigue las mismas tres reglas que en presente: se cae la -e muda, se dobla la consonante final tras una vocal corta, -ie pasa a -y.
Poner el decorado
La descripción de un momento pasado suele usar varios verbos en continuous seguidos, y reserva el simple para lo que al final pasó:
The rain was falling, the shops were closing and nobody was waiting at the stop. Then a bus appeared.
Esa última frase en past simple es la que hace avanzar la historia.
Con una hora dicha
Con una hora del reloj, el continuous dice que la acción ya estaba en marcha:
- At nine I was driving to work. — el viaje empezó antes.
- At nine I drove to work. — el viaje empezó a las nueve.
Dos acciones en paralelo
While une dos acciones largas, las dos en continuous:
She was revising while her brother was watching television.
Dónde se tuerce para un hispanohablante
La diferencia entre At nine I was driving y At nine I drove existe también en español («a las nueve iba conduciendo» frente a «a las nueve salí conduciendo»), pero en español se puede dejar ambiguo y en inglés la elección del tiempo ya lo decide. Si la acción empezó antes de la hora que dices, el continuous es obligatorio.
Y la concordancia con sustantivos plurales irregulares: children, people, police son plurales en inglés, así que llevan were.
Todas las formas
| Sujeto | Forma | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| I | was + -ing | I was reading |
| you | were + -ing | you were reading |
| he, she, it | was + -ing | she was reading |
| we | were + -ing | we were reading |
| they | were + -ing | they were reading |
Ejemplos
Tomados de las 450 frases de este ejercicio. La respuesta va resaltada.
- My friends and I were playing volleyball on the beach.
- They were having lunch at their favorite restaurant.
- Emily was playing her violin at the music concert.
- He was reading the newspaper when I entered the room.
- We were taking a lot of pictures during our vacation.
- I was listening to a podcast while commuting to work.
- She was talking to her grandmother on the phone.
- While we were watching a movie, the power suddenly went out.
- Ron was riding his bike when he saw a dog crossing the road.
- We were eating cake and ice cream.
- We were listening to our favorite songs on the radio.
- The chef was cooking a delicious meal in the kitchen.
Errores que evitar
Incorrecto: The children was playing outside. correcto: The children were playing outside.
Children es plural, así que lleva were.
Incorrecto: At six o'clock I had dinner and the phone rang. correcto: At six o'clock I was having dinner when the phone rang.
La cena ya estaba en marcha, así que lleva continuous.