Asignatura: Inglés II

Pasado continuo, presente perfecto y algunas preposiciones

Contenido
Pasado continuo, presente perfecto y algunas preposiciones ........................................................... 1
1. The past continuous ........................................................................................................................ 2
1.1 Past continuous: Negative form ................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Past continuous: Interrogative form ......................................................................................... 3
2. The present perfect ......................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 La negación................................................................................................................................ 8
2.2 La interrogación ........................................................................................................................ 8
3. Information questions ..................................................................................................................... 9
4. Prepositions of place (preposiciones de lugar) .............................................................................. 9
4.1 The use of “ to” ....................................................................................................................... 11

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 Asignatura: Inglés II

1. The past continuous

Para indicar acciones que han ocurrido en el pasado, podemos usar otro tiempo verbal que es el
“past continuous”. Como estudiamos en la unidad I, existe un tiempo continuo que se forma con
el verbo auxiliar “ to be”, agregando la partícula “ing” al verbo conjugado. Para formar el pasado
continuo debemos conjugar el verbo to be en pasado.

Pronoun Auxiliary to be verb + ing

I was working

You were working

He was working

She was working

It was working

We were working

They were working

Se usa el pasado continuo para expresar algo que ocurría o estaba ocurriendo en el pasado.

Examples

Yesterday Mary did many activities.

At 9:30 Mary was having breakfast.

At 11:00 she was reading the newspaper.

At 12:30 she was cooking lunch.

At 15:30 she was listening to music.

I had a wonderful dream last night.

I was sitting in the park. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. Children were playing and
laughing.

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1.1 Past continuous: Negative form

Structure:

Subject Verb to be not Verb+ing

Pronoun Auxiliary to be +not verb + ing

I was not working

You were not working

He was not working

She was not working

It was not working

We were not working

They were not working

Example

Everybody was dancing and listening to music but Henry was not enjoying the party.

1.2 Past continuous: Interrogative form

Verb to be Subject Verb +ing ?

Was i working ?

Were you working ?

Was he working ?

Was she working ?

Was it working ?

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Were we working ?

Were they working ?

Example

Were you studying yesterday? R = yes, i was / no, i was not.

El tiempo continuo se usa para una acción que estaba ocurriendo cuando otra la interrumpe. Para
esta última se usa el pasado simple. En este caso, para unir ambas oraciones, generalmente
usamos las palabras:

When = cuando While = mientras

Example

We were driving down the hill when a stranger object appeared in the sky.

While Laura was sitting in the garden, it began to rain.

2. The present perfect

Este tiempo verbal “presente perfecto” no es un

tiempo que represente el presente, sino un
tiempo pasado. El presente perfecto describe o
expresa una acción pasada cuyos resultados
tienen efecto sobre el presente, y podría tener
una proyección al futuro. Este tiempo muchas
veces corresponde el pretérito perfecto
compuesto del español.

La estructura de este tiempo verbal se forma con

un verbo auxiliar y el participio pasado del verbo
que indica la acción.

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Structure

Sujeto + Auxiliar + Past participle + Complement

Auxiliar: verbo have en presente ( have / has ) también puede ser representado como ( ‘ve /’ s )

Past participle: los verbos regulares adquieren terminación “ed”.

Structure

Subject Auxiliary have ( present) Verb past participle

I have played

You have played

He has played

She has played

It has played

We have played

They have played

Example:

I have finished my homework  He terminado mi tarea.

La acción corresponde a algo que comencé en el pasado y su efecto ocurre en el presente.

Veamos con ejemplos la evolución de la acción desde el pasado al presente.

Examples:

His shoes were dirty  He was cleaning his shoes  He has cleaned his shoes.

Today is Carol’s birthday  Her mother was cooking a cake  She has baked a delicious cake.

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Los verbos irregulares tienen una forma específica de conjugación. Aquí tenemos el listado de
verbos irregulares con su forma del “past participle”.

Infinitivo Participio Traducción Infinitivo Participio Traducción

pasado pasado
Be/am,are,is Been Ser / estar Light Lit Encender
Beat Beaten Golpear Lose Lost Perder
Become Become Llegar a ser Make Made Hacer
Begin Begun Empezar Mean Meant Significar
Bend Bent Doblar Meet Met Encontrar
Bite Bitten Morder Pay Paid Pagar
Bleed Bled Sangrar Put Put Poner
Blow Blown Soplar Read Read Leer
Break Broken Romper Ring Rung Llamar
Bring Brought Traer/llevar Run Run Correr
Burn Burnt/Burned Quemar Say Said Decir
Buy Bought Comprar See Seen Ver
Catch Caught Coger Sell Sold Vender
Come Come Venir Send Sent Enviar
Cost Cost Costar Shake Shaken Sacudir
Cut Cut Cortar Shine Shone Brillar
Choose Chosen Elegir Shut Shut Cerrar
Do (does) Done Hacer Sit Sat Sentarse
Draw Drawn Dibujar Slide Slid Resbalar
Drink Drunk Beber Smell Smelt Oler
Drive Driven Conducir Speak Spoken Hablar
Eat Eaten Comer Spill Spilt / Spilled Derramar
Fall Fallen Caer Split Split Partir/Rajar
Feed Fed Alimentar Spoil Spoilt/Spoiled Estropear
Feel Felt Sentir Spread Spread Extender
Find Found Encontrar Stand Stood Estar en pie
Forbid Forbidden Prohibir Steal Stolen Robar
Forget Forgotten Olvidar Stick Stuck Pegar/Engomar
Forgive Forgiven Perdonar Sting Stung Picar
Freeze Frozen Helar Stink Stunk Apestar
Get Got / Gotten Obtener Strike Struck Golpear
Give Given Dar Sweep Swept Barrer
go (goes) Gone Ir Take Taken Tomar/Llevar
Grow Grown Crecer Teach Taught Enseña
Grind Ground Moler Tear Torn Rasgar
Hang Hung Colgar Tell Told Decir
Have Had Haber o tener Think Thought Pensar
Hear Heard Oir Throw Thrown Arrojar/Tirar
Hit Hit Golpear Understand Understood Entender
Hurt Hurt Herir Undertake Undertaken Emprender
Keep Kept Conservar Wear Worn Llevar puesto

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Know Known Saber/conocer Wet Wet Mojar

Learn Learnt/Learned Aprender Win Won Ganar
Leave Left Dejar Wind Wound Enrollar
Let Let Permitir Wring Wrung Torcer
Write Written Escribir

Example

Mrs. Susan Galindo is a language teacher. She has taught elementary and advanced English.

Al utilizar este tiempo verbal se está haciendo referencia a una acción del pasado que ha tenido
una duración por un período indeterminado de tiempo. Para indicar la duración de la acción se
utilizan dos preposiciones: “for” and “since”.

 For: se utiliza cuando se menciona un período de tiempo, para señalar cuánto tiempo dura
la acción. Cuando acompaña al presente perfecto equivale en español a “Desde hace”.

For + a period of time  20 minutes, three days, 6 months, 4 years, 2 centuries, a long time,
ever.

Example:

Mrs. Susan Galindo has taught English for forty years  durante cuarenta años ella ha estado
enseñando inglés.

Jill has been in London for five days  I ‘ve known her for a long time.

 Since: se utiliza cuando se menciona el momento desde el cual la acción ha estado

ocurriendo. Introduce el momento del comienzo del período ( Monday, 9 o’clock, etc.)
equivale en español a “desde” o “desde que”.

Since + a point in past time  6.15pm, Monday, January, 1994, i left school, the beginning of
time

Example:

Mrs. Susan Galindo has taught English since 1972  Desde 1972 que ella ha estado enseñando
inglés.

Jill has been in London since Monday  Paul has lived in Canada since he was ten. I ´ve known her
since 1980.

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2.1 La negación
Como hemos visto en los niveles anteriores, cuando negamos una oración necesitamos un auxiliar.
En el presente perfecto el auxiliar es have/ has por lo tanto, esta partícula permite la negación del
verbo y éste continua en participio pasado.

Structure

Subject Have/has +not Past participle

i have not eaten

you have not eaten

he has not eaten

she has not eaten

it has not eaten

we have not eaten

they have not eaten

Example:

I have not lived in Paris. I have lived in London. (Haven’t)

Mary has not written poems. She has written a book. (Hasn’t)

2.2 La interrogación
Volvamos a recordar que para hacer una pregunta necesitamos de un auxiliar, en este caso
Have/has. El verbo continua siendo utilizado en pasado participio.

Structure

Auxiliary have Subject Verb past participle ?

Example:

Have you been in a gastronomy festival?

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Has Peter prepared the cocktail?

Para responder a este tipo de preguntas, utilizaremos la respuesta corta, cuya estructura es la
misma antes estudiada.

Yes, pronombre + auxiliar / No, pronombre +auxiliar +not.

Example:

Have you visited the Elqui valley? R = Yes, i have / No, I have not (haven’t)

Has the baby tried the pudding? R = No, she has not (Hasn’t) / yes, He has.

3. Information questions
Las preguntas más frecuentes con el present perfect hacen referencia al tiempo de duración de la
acción. Para ese efecto utilizaremos la pregunta How long. (¿Cuánto tiempo?, ¿hace cuánto
tiempo?)

Para expresar cuánto tiempo hace que ocurre una acción, en inglés se usa el present perfect y no
el presente como en español.

Example:

How long have you studied in Icel? I have studied in Icel since 2011

I‘ve studied in Icel for two years.

How long have you been married? We have been married since 1973

We´ve been married for forty years.

4. Prepositions of place (preposiciones de lugar)

Prepositions of place, as the name suggests, link the noun/pronoun with a particular place or spot.
These are also called prepositions of location or position.

Prepositions of place: in –at- on

In general, we use: IN for an enclosed space.

AT for a point.

ON for a surface.

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 Asignatura: Inglés II

AT Point IN Enclosed space ON surface

At the corner In the garden On the wall
At the bus stop In london On the ceiling
At the door In france On the door
At the top of the page In a box On the cover
At the end of the road In my pocket On the floor
At the entrance In my wallet On the carpet
At the crossroads In a building On the menu
At the front desk In a car On a page

In, at, on corresponden en muchos casos a “en” en español, pero debemos hacer notar la
diferencia de su uso.

In: en, rodeado por un lugar, dentro de. In: rodeado por un lugar.

Examples: Examples:

In a room, in a shop, in a box  The dog In a garden, in a town, in a park 

is in the box Children are in the park

In: en un lugar con límites, países, In: en un ambiente de agua.

ciudades, distritos, etc.
Example
Examples:
In the water, in my coffee, in the sea 
In France, in the city center, in Rome  They are in the sea.
Tourists are in Rome.

At: en, pero no dentro del lugar o

rodeado por el mismo.

Examples:

At the door, at the traffic lights, at the

bus-stop

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Notice the use of the prepositions of place at, in and on in these standard expressions:

AT IN ON
at home in a car on a bus
at work in a taxi on a train
at school in a helicopter on a plane
at university in a boat on a ship
at college in a lift (elevator) on a bicycle, on a motorbike
at the top in the newspaper on a horse, on an elephant
at the bottom in the sky on the radio, on television
at the side in a row on the left, on the right
at reception in oxford street on the way

También usamos at en los siguientes casos:

1. At: en casa de alguien o en un lugar de trabajo.

At Jane’s house / at the doctor´s / at the hairdresser’s / at the satation / at the airport.

2. At: en acontecimientos.

At a concert / at a conference / at a party / at a football match.

3. On: con sentido de sobre o adosado a.

On the table, on the floor, on the book.

The list of wine is on the menu.

Here there are other examples.

4.1 The use of “ to”

“To” indica una dirección, en español corresponde a “a” y se usa para verbos que indiquen un
traslado.

Example: go – come –return – walk to….

I want to go to Italy.

We walked from my house to the city center.

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 Asignatura: Inglés II

Con el verbo arrive debemos usar la preposición in y at:

 Arrive in: país/ ciudad  They arrived in England last week

 Arrive at: otros lugares  What time did they arrive at the hotel?

Yesterday, he didn’t arrive at work.

Preposiciones

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