Gramática › Past Continuous Tense
Past continuous: preguntas de sí o no
450 ejercicios de huecos, 45 tests de diez
Mueve was o were delante del sujeto. La forma en -ing se queda donde está.
Practica esta forma
Cargando…
Preparando tu primera pregunta.
La estructura
Se intercambian los dos primeros elementos:
You were waiting. → Were you waiting?
No se añade auxiliar, porque el tiempo ya tiene uno.
Las respuestas cortas mantienen el auxiliar
Were you watching? — Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.
Preguntar qué estaba haciendo alguien
Estas preguntas suelen fijar un momento y preguntar qué ya estaba en marcha entonces:
- Were you sleeping when I called?
- Was it raining at the time?
La respuesta prepara a menudo un suceso en past simple: Yes, and then the alarm went off.
Cortés y prudente
El past continuous suaviza una petición o una pregunta sobre intenciones:
I was wondering whether you had a moment.
No hay nada de pasado ahí: el tiempo está haciendo cortesía, no tiempo.
Dónde se tuerce para un hispanohablante
«¿Estabas esperando?» se traduce directamente, y el error típico es añadir did por costumbre: Did you were waiting? no existe.
Lo que sí coincide es la cortesía: «me preguntaba si…» y I was wondering whether… usan el mismo recurso, un tiempo pasado para no sonar brusco. Es una de las pocas cosas que se pueden traducir literalmente y quedan bien.
Todas las formas
| Sujeto | Pregunta | Respuesta corta, sí | Respuesta corta, no |
|---|---|---|---|
| I, he, she, it | Was she working? | Yes, she was. | No, she wasn't. |
| you, we, they | Were they working? | Yes, they were. | No, they weren't. |
Ejemplos
Tomados de las 450 frases de este ejercicio. La respuesta va resaltada.
- Were they running in the park early in the morning?
- Was he swimming in the pool when it started to rain?
- Were you playing the piano when I came into the room?
- Were they watching a movie when their friends dropped by?
- Were you reading a book when the doorbell rang?
- Were you working in the garden when it started to rain?
- Were you listening to the radio when the news broke?
- Were they having dinner when the fire alarm went off?
- Were you doing your homework when your friends came over?
- Was she washing the dishes when you called her?
- Were they cooking a meal when the phone rang?
- Were you walking in the rain when I drove past you?
Errores que evitar
Incorrecto: Did you were waiting? correcto: Were you waiting?
Was y were hacen su propia pregunta. Did no se les junta nunca.
Incorrecto: Was they sleeping? correcto: Were they sleeping?
They lleva were.