Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
1. Hablar de cosas en general. No estamos únicamente pensando en el NOW sino que decimos que algo sucede
todo el tiempo o repetidamente.
Nurses look alter patients.
I usually go away at weekends.
Where do you come from?
What does this word mean?
He’s so lazy. He doesn’t do anything to help me.
7. Se utiliza el Present Simple con idea de futuro para cualquier cosa que siga
un horario o un orden lógico:
My flight leaves at 8.00 next Monday.
Tomorrow is Thursday.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
1. Una acción que está sucediendo en el momento mismo de hablar (en el NOW):
Where’s Margaret? – She’s having a bath.
Let’s go out now. It isn’t raining any more.
I’m tired. I’m going to bed. Goodnight.
Please don’t make so much noise, I’m studying.
2. Indicar que estamos realizando algo aunque no sea exactamente en el mismo momento de hablar.
Situación: Dos amigos sentados en un café. Uno de ellos dice: ‘I’m reading an interesting book at the moment’.
(claro que no en el momento de hablar, pero sí indica que está en ello, no lo ha terminado).
3. Cuando hablamos de cosas que suceden en un período de tiempo cercano al NOW. Para ello utilizamos
complementos de tiempo como son: today, this week, this month, etc., this afternoon, this evening, etc.
‘You’re working hard today’ – ‘Yes, I have a lot to do’.
‘Is Susan working this week?’ – ‘No, she’s on holiday’.
6. Quejarte de algo que haces (u otra persona) con demasiada frecuencia, aquí se utiliza “always”:
I’ve lost my keys again, I’m always losing things.
You’re always watching television.
John is always complaining.
Hay ciertos verbos que son stative, es decir, no son action, por lo que NO pueden utilizarse en –ing aunque el
sentido de la oración lo pida.
like – love – hate – want – need – prefer – know – realise – suppose –mean – understand – believe –
remember – belong – contain – consist –depend – seem.
4. Los verbos de los sentidos tampoco admiten el –ing: see – hear – smell –taste.
Do you see the man over there?
This room smells. Let’s open the window.
Pero cuando see significa meet / have a meeting with (especialmente en el
futuro) entonces se puede conjugar en –ing:
I’m seeing / meeting the manager tomorrow morning.
5. Con look y feel se usa el Present Simple o el Continuous indistintamente cuando dices HOW SOMEBODY
LOOKS or FEELS now:
You look well today. – You’re looking well today.
How do you feel now? – How are you feeling now?
Pero en primera persona solo se utiliza el simple present:
I usually feel tired in the morning.
4. Verbos de una sóla sílaba que acaban en consonante – vocal –consonante > duplicaremos la última
consonante antes de añadir –ing:
stop – stopping
plan – planning
rob – robbing
5. Verbos con más de una sílaba que acaban en consonante – vocal –consonante:
1. doblamos la última consonante únicamente si la sílaba final es la
acentuada:
preFER – preferring
reGRET – regretting
perMIT – permitting
beGIN – beginning
2. pero si la sílaba final no es acentuada, no doblamos la consonante:
VIsit – visiting
deVElop – developing
reMEMber – remembering
SIMPLE PAST
Sujeto + verbo en pasado + complementos
Sujeto + didn‟t + verbo infinitive sin “to” + complementos
Did + sujeto + verbo infinitivo sin “to” + complementos?
Con el Simple Past se utiliza la partícula AGO que significa “hace” y se coloca al final de la oración:
He left school three years ago.
También hay una serie de complementos de tiempo muy útiles: last week, last year, last century,… yesterday, the
day befote yesterday, etc.
I went to the cinema three times last week.
She came home late yesterday evening.
PAST CONTINUOUS
Sujeto + was/were + verbo –ing + complementos
Sujeto + wasn‟t / weren‟t + verbo –ing + complementos
Was / Were + sujeto + verbo –ing + complementos?
Utilizamos el Past Continuous para decir que alguien estaba hacienda algo en un momento determinado en el
pasado. La acción o suceso ya había comenzado antes de ese momento pero no había terminado.
This time last year I was living in Scotland.
What were you doing at 10 o’clock last night?
I waved to her but she wasn’t looking.
A menudo utilizamos el Simple Past y el Past Continuous en la misma oración para decir que algo sucedió /
interrumpió mientras otra oración estaba sucediendo (fíjate en el uso de WHILE y WHEN):
Tom burnt his hand while he was cooking dinner.
While Tom was cooking dinner, he burnt his hand.
Tom was cooking dinner when he burnt his hand.
Pero solo usaremos el Simple Past si una cosa sucedió a continuación de la otra:
When Karen arrived, we had dinner.
We had dinner when Karen arrived.
Recuerda los verbos que NO se pueden conjugar en –ing. (Ver apuntes Present Continuous)
1. Cuando utilizamos este tiempo verbal estamos conectando el pasado con el NOW presente. Es decir, la acción
del pasado tiene un resultado ahora:
He told me his name but I’ve forgotten it. (= I can‟t remember his name NOW)
2. Como a menudo utilizamos este tiempo para dar información nueva o para
anunciar un suceso reciente, si esto ocurre dentro de una conversación, sólo será present perfect el anuncio o
información, el resto del diálogo estará en simple past:
A: Ow! I’ve burnt my hand!
B: How did you do that?
A: I touched a hot dish.
3. Partículas del tiempo Present Perfect Simple: (ojo con la colocación) (“+” > oraciones verbo afirmativo; “-“ >
oraciones verbo negativo; “?”> oraciones interrogativas):
1. JUST (+ / ¿) = “a short time ago”
I’ve just had lunch.
Hello. Have you just arrived?
4. NEVER (es una particular negativa, por lo que el verbo debe ir en afirmativo) = nunca.
I’ve never driven a lorry.
5. YET (- / ?) = “until now” (muestra que el hablante está esperando que algo suceda).
Has it stopped raining yet?
I‟ve written the letter but I haven‟t posted it yet.
6. FOR > va seguida de período de tiempo. Ejemplo: for a year, for two years, etc. for a month, for seven months,
for a long time, for centuries, etc.
7. SINCE > va seguida del comienzo de la acción. Ejemplo: since May, since June, since I was born, since 1978,
since Monday, since the 10th century, since 8 o’clock, since this morning, since yesterday, since Christmas, since
Easter, etc.
4. Lo utilizaremos siempre que hablemos de un período de tiempo que empezó en el pasado y que ahora, en el
presente, todavía no ha terminado. Ese período de tiempo se suele identificar con expresiones como: recently, in
the last / few days, so far, since breakfast, since lunch, for a long time, for…., today, this morning, this evening, this
term, etc.
Have you heard from George recently?
I’ve met a lot of people in the last few days.
Everything is going well. We haven’t had any problems so far.
I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.
It’s nice to see you again. We haven’t seen each other for a long time.
I’ve drunk four cups of coffee today.
5. Utilizamos este tiempo detrás de expresiones como: It‟s the first time / second time / third time, etc.
It’s the first time Tom has driven a car. (= He has never driven a car before).
Linda has lost her passport again. It’s the second time this has happened.
This is a lovely meal. It’s the first food meal I’ve had for ages.
Bill is phoning his girlfriend again. That‟s the third time he’s phoned her
this evening.
EXERCISES
1. Put the verbs in brackets in the Present Simple or the Present Continuous.
1. I _________________ (not understand) that sign over there. What _________________ (it/mean)?
2. Paula and Jack are in the sitting-room. They _________________ (listen) to the news, and Paula
____________________ (look) at a magazine as well.
3. The students ____________________ (count) the books in the library today, because we _________________ (not
know) how many we have.
4. Tim _________________ (like) his new shoes; they _______________ (fit) him perfectly.
5. June: Look! That woman __________________ (sit) in your chair.
Barry: It ___________________ (not matter). I can sit over there.
6. This computer is very expensive. It _________________ (cost) more than $3000, but the price _______________
(include) tax.
7. I don’t like Adam because he ____________________ (always/tell) stupid stories.
8. “Why are you annoyed with Mary?” – “Because she __________________________ (always /ask) me for money.
3. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Perfect or the Simple Past tense.
1. Where is Tom? – I …………………………. (not see) him today, but he ……………………. (tell) Mary that he’d be in
for dinner.
2. I …………………………. (buy) this in Bond Street. – How much ……………………….. (you pay) for it.
3. - Where …………………………….. (you find) this knife?
– I ………………………………. (find) it in the garden. – Why …………………………………..(you not leave) it there?
4. - I 169………………………….. (lose) my gloves. …………………… ………………….. (you see) them anywhere?
- No, I am afraid I ………………. . When ………………….……… (you last wear) them?
- I ……………………………… (wear) them at the theatre last night.
- Perhaps you …………………………. (leave) them at the theatre.
5. – He ……………………………. (serve) in the First World War.
- When ………………………….…. (that war begin)?
- It …………………………… (begin) in 1914 and ……………….. (last) for four years.
6. - Who ………………………………. (you vote) for at the last election? - I ……………………………….. (vote) for Mr
Pitt. - He …………………………… (not elected), ………………………. (be) he? - No, he ………………………. (lose) his
deposit.
7. - ……………………………….. (you hear) his speech on the radio last night? - Yes, I ……………. . What
………………………. (you think) of it?
8. -…………………………………. (you see) today’s newspaper? - No, ……………..……………………………. (anything
interesting happen)?
9. – How long ………………………………….. (you be) unemployed? - I’m not out of work now. I
………………………………… (just start) a new job.
10. I …………………………… (phone) you twice yesterday and 191……………………………. (get) no answer.