PAST SENTENCES

El past simple, o pasado simple, es uno de los tiempos verbales más importantes en la
lengua inglesa y, a diferencia del español, en que los verbos en pasado tienen conjugaciones
muy diferentes, en el inglés hay verbos que conservan su forma tanto en presente como
pasado, y los más irregulares llegan a tener solo hasta tres formas.

Past simple: cuándo se usa?

El past simple se usa para oraciones en las que la idea, el acto o el estado ya se completó.
Pudo haber finalizado hace cinco minutos o hace cinco siglos, el tiempo de terminación no
importa, lo único importante es que se habla de algo que ya no sucede o existe en el
presente.

In 1970, The Beatles split up.

When you were a child you liked apples.
I ate in that restaurant a year ago.

ESTRUCTURA
En inglés hay dos tipos de verbos: regulares e irregulares.

Existen algunas reglas para la formación de verbos regulares en inglés que se basan en
cuáles son las últimas letras del verbo en infinitivo. Las dos terminaciones para la formación
del past simple son –d o –ed y dependen de los siguiente:

1. La –d es para verbos cuya última letra es e. Por ejemplo:

Close - Closed: She closed the store yesterday
Believe - Believed: Last time, you believed that I had lied to you.
/bili-vid/

2. La –ed es para verbos en cualquier otra terminación. Por ejemplo:

Jump - Jumped: All the people jumped when they heard that song at the concert
Start - Started: I started to do exercise when I was 10 years old
/star-tid/

3. Cuando hay una y al final, después de una vocal, solo hay que agregar –ed. Por ejemplo:
Play - Played: She played like a pro in the final match
Pray - Prayed: My grandmother prayed for me when I was in hospital

4. Cuando no hay vocal antes de la y, se cambia por i+ ed. Por ejemplo:

 Study - Studied: I studied all night for the last test
Try - Tried: They tried to repair car all the morning
/tra id/

5. Otros casos, la última consonante debe repetirse para agregar –ed. Por ejemplo:
Stop - Stopped: You stopped just in time, before the train crossed
Plan - Planned: The musicians planned their last concert almost a year ago
/plan nid/

¿Cómo formar el past simple en verbos regulares en formas negativas e interrogativas?

Notas: usamos "did" en pasado para todos los sujetos (no cambia como en el presente
do/does)
Pasado
Infinitivo Participio
simple
To be Was/Were Been
Become Became Become
Begin Began Begun
Break Broke Broken
Buy Bought Bought
Come Came Come
Do Did Done
Dream Dreamt Dreamt
Drink Drank Drunk
Drive Drove Driven
Eat Ate Eaten
Forget Forgot Forgotten
Get Got Got/Gotten
Give Gave Given
Go Went Gone
Have Had Had
Hear Heard Heard
Know Knew Known
Lear Learnt Learnt
Make Made Made
Pay Paid Paid
Run Ran Run
Say Said Said
Sell Sold Sold
Sing Sang Sung
Sleep Slept Slept
Speak Spoke Spoken
Take Took Taken
Win Won Won
Write Wrote Written

Pronunciación de verbos regulares en inglés

Start - started - Se pronuncia /star-tid/

Visit - visited - Se pronuncia /vih-sih-tid/
Rent - rented - Se pronuncia /rehn-tid/
Repeat - repeated - Se pronuncia /ree-pee-tid/
Create - created - Se pronuncia /cree-ey-tid/
Hate - hated - Se pronuncia /hey-tid/

Crowd - crowded - Se pronuncia /krow - did/

Fold - folded - Se pronuncia /fold - did/
Provide - provided - Se pronuncia /pro - viy - did/
Decide - decided - Se pronuncia /dee - siy - did/

Stop - stopped - Se pronuncia /stopt/

Like - liked - Se pronuncia /laikt/
Park - parked - Se pronuncia /parkt/

Hug - hugged - Se pronuncia /hugd/

Cry - cried - Se pronuncia /crayd/
Roar - roared - Se pronuncia /rord/
 PAST PERFECT
AFIRMATIVE
Sujeto Auxiliar Had Verbo en pasado Complemento
I
He/She/It
You had met them before the meeting
We
They

NEGATIVE
Sujeto Auxiliar Had NEGATIVE Verbo en pasado Complemento
I
He/She/It
You had not met them before the meeting
We
They

QUESTION
Auxiliar Had Sujeto Verbo en pasado Complemento
I
He/She/It
had You met them before the meeting?
We
They

¿Cuándo se usa el past perfect?

1. El pasado perfecto se usa para referirse a una acción que ocurrió en el pasado antes que otra. En
este caso, la primera acción se conjuga en past perfect, mientras que la segunda, la más reciente, en
pasado simple. Por ejemplo:

I had watched the movie before I read the book

I had fallen asleep when the clock rang at 11 PM
I had been happy in all my jobs until I got this one
My father had visited China several times
They had not understood the movie because they had not read the comic
Had he finished his homework before he went to play with his friends?
If we had gone by bicycle instead of by car, we would have arrived before closing
If you had not studied hard, you would not have passed the exam
Had the teacher taught that lesson before the test?
I had bought my house before I turned 30
My brothers had not agreed to the plan
Had she learnt French just before her trip to Paris?
Mary said she had already watched that movie
 PAST CONTINUOS
I YOU
HE WE
WAS WERE
SHE THEY
IT

Modo Estructura Ejemplo Traducción

Sujeto + verbo auxiliar (to be) Your dog was playing Tu perro estaba jugando
Afirmativo + verbo en gerundio (ing) + with its toys when I con sus juguetes cuando
complemento arrived llegué

Sujeto + verbo auxiliar (to be)

I was not studying No estaba estudiando
Negativo + not + verbo en gerundio
Physics at that time. Física en aquel entonces
(ing) + complemento

Verbo auxiliar (to be) + sujeto Were you eating

¿Estabas comiendo dulces
Interrogativo + verbo en gerundio (ing) + candies when I
cuando entré al cuarto?
complemento + ? entered the room?

El past continuous en inglés se usa para:

1. Expresar acciones o estados que estaban llevándose a cabo en el pasado cuando otra
acción o estado la interrumpe o refuerza. Por ejemplo:

I was walking when I saw an eagle

Last year, I was studying for the exams
While my son was playing videogames, I was sleeping in his bedroom
She was watching a film yesterday when I called her
He was reading when his little sister started to cry
Yesterday, while I was listening to music, my friend was watching movies
When I was sick, my mother was visiting me everyday
He was singing alone, when suddenly a shadow appeared in the mirror
I was loving hanging out with you
She was smelling that lotion
They were regretting their decision to sell their house
I was feeling good until my nap time
You were going to the swimming pool when I saw you .

They were dancing salsa when their baby woke up .

He was taking photos of his dog when the camera broke.

It was raining yesterday when I came to pick you up .

She was talking to him while her son was doing his homework .

We were not snoring when you were working .

They were not sleeping together that year.

Was Alan running behind the car when he broke his leg?
What was he doing this time yesterday?
Were you having a good conversation when I interrupted you?