Explanations in Spanish

1. PAST CONTINUOUS
Se usa para…
• 1. Hablar de lo que estábamos haciendo a una
hora determinada del pasado.
Ej. Yesterday at 10:00 I was having dinner.
• 2. Dos o más acciones que se estaban
realizando simultáneamente en el pasado.
Ej. While I was studying, my sister was playing the
guitar.
• 3. Una acción en progreso, interrumpida por una
acción repentina.
Ej. I was having a shower when the phone rang.

2. PAST SIMPLE
Se usa para…
1. Acciones que se realizaron en el pasado.
Ej. I saw your brother yesterday.
2. Acciones que sucedieron una detrás de otra.
Ej. I had dinner, watched TV for a while and then
went to bed.
3. Acción que interrumpió otra que estaba en
progreso.
Ej. I was driving to work when I had an accident.

3. PAST CONTINUOUS AND PAST SIMPLE
• PAST CONTINUOUS • PAST SIMPLE
-Lo que estaba pasando o -Lo que pasó o lo que
lo que estábamos hicimos.
haciendo. En narrativa, normalmente
En narrativa, normalmente se usa para narrar los
se usa para describir la acontecimientos:
escena: De repente un conductor
Estaba lloviendo, unos perdió el control y
niños estaban cruzando atropelló….
la calle…. Suddenly a car lost control
It was raining heavily. Some and ran over…
children were crossing
the street…

4. PAST PERFECT
• Se usa para hablar de…
…una acción que ocurrió antes de otra que
ya está en pasado.
The child broke the toy that her grandfather
had bought for her. (…rompió….que…le
había comprado)
By the time the police arrived, the robbers
had already left. (Para cuando…llegó…..
…..ya se habían marchado)

5. PAST PERFECT SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS.
• Los usos son similares a Present Perfect Simple
y Present Perfect Continuous, pero aplicados a
una acción anterior en el tiempo.
-I have already seen that film. (Ya he visto….)
I didn’t want to see the film because I had already
seen it. (……porque ya la había visto)
-I have just seen the film. (Acabo de ver…)
I had just seen … (Acababa de ver…)
-I have been writing…(He estado escribiendo…)
I had been writing...(Había estado escribiendo…)

6. TIME EXPRESSIONS
• While- mientras
• When- cuando
• As soon as- tan pronto como
• Before- antes de
• After- después de
• Suddenly- de repente
• By the time- para cuando
• Until- Hasta que
• Once- Una vez que

7. Examples
• While I was reading, the light went out.
• When my mum arrived, I had already gone to bed.
• As soon as my mum arrived, I went to bed.
• I was reading. Suddenly, the light went out.
• Before my mum arrived I went to bed.
• After my mother arrived I went to bed.
• By the time my mum arrived, I had already gone to bed.
• John didn’t go to bed until he had finished his
homework.
• Once Mary had done her homework, she went to bed.