Guía completa de tiempos verbales en inglés

Present simple

Forma afirmativa: I/you go, he/she/it goes

Forma negativa: I/you don’t go, he/she/it doesn’t go

Forma interrogativa: Do you go?, Does he/she/it go?

Usos

  • Hábitos o rutinas: Janet often goes to the library.
  • Hechos generales o científicos: Research shows that people have different types of intelligence.
  • Verbos estáticos: This cake tastes wonderful.
  • Expresiones de tiempo y adverbios de frecuencia: always, usually, occasionally, frequently, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never, once a month, every week, in the morning, on Mondays, at three o’clock, at night, how often, dislike, hate, hope, like, love, prefer, want, believe, forget, guess, know, remember, think, understand, feel, hear, see, smell, sound, taste, touch, cost, weight, measure, belong, own.

Present continuous

Forma afirmativa: I’m going, you are going, she is going.

Usos

  • Decir lo que está pasando en el momento en que pasa: Mum is talking on the telephone right now (now, right now, at the moment).
  • Acción temporal: Mary and I are learning Italian this year (today, these days, this month, year, at present).
  • Planes o predicciones: I’m meeting Martin tonight (tonight, tomorrow, this afternoon, next Sunday, week, month).

Past simple

Forma afirmativa: I/you/she finished

Forma negativa: she didn’t finish

Usos

  • Una acción en pasado en un momento en concreto. I finished lunch late yesterday.
  • Expresiones de tiempo: (yesterday, last year, two days ago, in 2004, when, then).

Past continuous

Forma afirmativa: I was writing, you were writing

Usos

  • Una acción que está incompleta en un tiempo específico: At 10 o’clock last night, I was writing an e-mail to my friend Rose. (last night, week, year, at nine o’clock).
  • Una acción incompleta interrumpida por otra acción: He was watching that famous TV show when I called (when, and, while, as).
  • Dos acciones en progreso en el pasado: Last year I was teaching English while I was studying at university.

Past perfect simple

Forma afirmativa: I/you/she had stopped

Forma negativa: I/you/he hadn’t stopped

Usos

  • Una acción que tuvo lugar antes que otra la cual va en past simple: The rain had stopped before I left. By the time she arrived, he had already gone home.

Present perfect simple

Forma afirmativa: I/you have lived, she/he has lived

Usos

  • Hablar de acciones que comenzaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente: I have lived in London for two years.
  • Acciones pasadas cuyos efectos son visibles en el momento actual: We have recently moved house.

Future simple

Forma afirmativa/negativa: I/you/she will/won’t work

Usos

  • Una predicción: I think it will rain tomorrow. We will finish this exercise.
  • Un horario: The plane will leave at 5:30 pm.
  • Una decisión espontánea: I will open the door.

Be going to

Forma afirmativa: I am going to work, You are going to work, she is going to work.

Usos

  • Planes o intenciones: We are going to celebrate my birthday.
  • Situaciones a punto de pasar: It’s going to rain, She is going to have a baby.

Future perfect

Forma afirmativa: I/you/she will have finished

Usos

  • Indicar que una acción habrá acabado en un momento del futuro: Patients will have finished their treatment in two months.
  • Expresiones de tiempo: by this time next week, by ten o’clock, by the end of…, by then, by August, in two months.

Future continuous

Forma afirmativa: I/you/she will be working

Usos

  • Que estará pasando en un momento determinado del futuro: At this time tomorrow, Jack and Brian will be training (at this time tomorrow, at this time next, in the next decades).

Defining relative clauses

Who/that

Refer to people: I talked to the man who/that survived the earthquake. My uncle, who is a photographer, lives in Barcelona.

Which/that

Refer to objects: The school (in which I study) is very big. The pizza which I like is the 4 seasons.

When

Refers to a moment in time: It was in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.

Where

Refers to a particular place: Japan is a country where earthquakes are very common. Spain is a country where there are a lot of beaches.

Whose

Refers to possession: He’s the boy whose mother saved many people’s lives. Steve, whose son is a doctor, is going to visit me. Iniesta, whose team is Barça, lives near here.

Conditionals

First conditional

Describir situaciones probables o resultados posibles. If + present simple or continuous + subject + will + infinitive.

Ejemplo 1: If I see Peter, I will give him your message.

Ejemplo 2: If you travel abroad, you will meet a lot of people.

Ejemplo 3: If it rains, I won’t go to the beach.

Second conditional

Describir situaciones imaginarias o poco probables. If + past simple + subject + would + infinitive.

Ejemplo 1: If I were you, I would apply for a new job.

Ejemplo 2: If it rained, I wouldn’t go to the beach.

Third conditional

Situaciones irreales en el pasado: If + past perfect simple or continuous + would (habría)/could (podría)/might (debería, capaz de) + have + past participle.

Ejemplo 1: If I had passed my driving test, I would have bought a car.

Ejemplo 2: If it had rained, I wouldn’t have gone.