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Introducción
Cuando contamos una historia del pasado, a veces hay una acción larga que estaba ocurriendo y otra acción corta que pasa en medio: «Estaba leyendo cuando sonó el teléfono». En inglés, para esto combinamos dos tiempos: el Past Simple y el Past Continuous.
Explicación
Past Simple: acciones terminadas en el pasado. Verbos regulares + -ed (played, watched) y verbos irregulares con su forma propia (went, saw, rang). Ejemplo: I went to the cinema yesterday. (Ayer fui al cine.)
Past Continuous: acciones que estaban en marcha en un momento del pasado. Se forma con was / were + verbo con -ing:
was con I, he, she, it: I was reading. She was sleeping.
were con you, we, they: We were playing. They were singing.
Negativa: wasn't / weren't + -ing: He wasn't listening.
Pregunta: Was she sleeping? Were they playing?
¿Cuándo usamos cada uno?
Para una acción en marcha a una hora concreta del pasado usamos el Past Continuous: At 8 o'clock yesterday, I was having breakfast. (Ayer a las 8 estaba desayunando.)
Para una acción larga interrumpida por otra corta: la larga va en Past Continuous y la corta en Past Simple: I was reading when the phone rang.
Para dos acciones largas que ocurrían a la vez, las dos en Past Continuous: Mum was cooking while Dad was cleaning.
Para varias acciones cortas, una detrás de otra, todas en Past Simple: I got up, had a shower and went to school.
Dos palabras te ayudan mucho: when (cuando) suele ir con la acción corta en Past Simple, y while (mientras) suele ir con la acción larga en Past Continuous:
When the teacher arrived, we were talking. / While we were talking, the teacher arrived.
Ojo: algunos verbos casi nunca van en forma -ing, como like, love, know, want. Decimos I knew the answer, no I was knowing.
Recuerda: para formar el -ing, si el verbo acaba en -e quitamos la e (ride → riding), y si es corto y acaba en consonante + vocal + consonante doblamos la última letra (run → running, swim → swimming).
Ejemplo
Ejemplo 1. Completa: Tom ___ (ride) his bike when he ___ (see) a fox.
La acción larga es montar en bici: Past Continuous → was riding.
La acción corta que ocurre en medio es ver un zorro: Past Simple (irregular) → saw.
Solución: Tom was riding his bike when he saw a fox.
Ejemplo 2. Completa: While my friends ___ (play) football, I ___ (read) a comic.
Son dos acciones largas a la vez, unidas por while: las dos en Past Continuous.
my friends = they → were playing; I → was reading.
Solución: While my friends were playing football, I was reading a comic.
Ejercicios
When the doorbell rang, I ___ a shower, so I didn't open the door.
While we were playing in the park, it ___ to rain.
Material adicional
There is / There are – Hay (ampliado)
Ya conoces there is y there are para decir «hay». Ahora vamos a profundizar con el uso en pasado (there was / there were), con preguntas más complejas y con cuantificadores.
Repaso: presente
Forma
Singular
Plural
Afirmativa
There is (There's) a cat.
There are three cats.
Negativa
There isn't a dog.
There aren't any dogs.
Interrogativa
Is there a park?
Are there any shops?
Pasado: there was / there were
Para hablar de lo que había en el pasado, usamos there was (singular) y there were (plural):
Forma
Singular
Plural
Afirmativa
There was a castle here.
There were many trees.
Negativa
There wasn't a supermarket.
There weren't any cars.
Interrogativa
Was there a school?
Were there any people?
📘 Ejemplo
Presente: There is a big shopping centre in my town. (Hay un gran centro comercial en mi pueblo.) There are many parks. (Hay muchos parques.)
Pasado: 100 years ago, there wasn't a shopping centre. (Hace 100 años, no había centro comercial.) There were many farms. (Había muchas granjas.) Were there any cars? No, there weren't. (¿Había coches? No.)
There is / are con cuantificadores
Cuantificador
Se usa con
Ejemplo
a lot of
Contables e incontables
There are a lot of students in my class.
many
Contables (neg./preg.)
Are there many shops?
much
Incontables (neg./preg.)
There isn't much time.
some
Afirmativas
There are some books on the table.
any
Negativas y preguntas
There aren't any biscuits left.
no
Afirmativa con sentido negativo
There are no chairs. (= There aren't any chairs.)
a few
Contables (= unos pocos)
There are a few apples.
a little
Incontables (= un poco)
There is a little milk.
Describir un lugar
Podemos usar there is/are para describir nuestro pueblo, ciudad o barrio:
I live in a small town in the south of Spain. There are about 5,000 people. There is a big square in the centre with a beautiful church. There are some shops and two supermarkets. There is a primary school and a secondary school, but there isn't a university. There are a lot of olive trees around the town. There is a swimming pool, but there isn't a cinema. There are a few restaurants where you can eat very good food. I love my town!
📚 Vocabulario / Vocabulary
town /táun/ = pueblo city /síti/ = ciudad village /vílich/ = aldea square /skuér/ = plaza church /cherch/ = iglesia hospital /jóspital/ = hospital library /láibreri/ = biblioteca cinema /sínema/ = cine swimming pool /suíming pul/ = piscina supermarket /siúpermarket/ = supermercado fire station /fáier stéishon/ = estación de bomberos police station /polís stéishon/ = comisaría
✏️ Ejercicios
1. Completa con «there is», «there are», «there was» o «there were»: a) Today ___ a big park in my town. b) 50 years ago ___ many farms here. c) ___ any cinemas in your town? (present) d) In the past, ___ a castle on the hill.
2. Escribe en negativa: a) There was a hospital. → ___ b) There were many cars. → ___
3. Escribe preguntas: a) ___ a library in your school? (Is / Are) b) ___ many students in your class? (Is / Are) c) ___ a cinema in your town 50 years ago? (Was / Were)
4. Completa con el cuantificador adecuado (some, any, a lot of, a few, a little): a) There are ___ shops in the centre. (muchas) b) There aren't ___ parks. (ninguno) c) There is ___ milk in the fridge. (un poco) d) There are ___ trees near the river. (algunos)
5. Describe tu pueblo o ciudad en inglés usando al menos 8 frases con «there is / there are».
6. Compara tu pueblo ahora y hace 50 años: Now: There are many cars. / 50 years ago: There weren't many cars. Escribe 4 comparaciones más.
🎯 Actividad práctica
Town description project: 1. Dibuja un mapa sencillo de tu pueblo o barrio. 2. Marca los lugares importantes: school, park, shops, church, etc. 3. Escribe un texto descriptivo en inglés usando there is/are. 4. Presenta tu mapa a la clase.
🤔 ¿Sabías que...?
En inglés británico, la palabra «pavement» significa acera, pero en inglés americano, «pavement» significa el asfalto de la carretera. Y la acera en americano se dice «sidewalk». ¡Cuidado con estas diferencias si viajas!
📋 Resumen de la lección
Presente: There is/are. Pasado: There was/were.
Negativa: There isn't/aren't/wasn't/weren't.
Pregunta: Is there...? / Are there...? / Was there...? / Were there...?
Cuantificadores: some, any, a lot of, many, much, a few, a little, no.
Se usan para describir lugares, habitaciones y situaciones.
Publicidad
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