USO DE LOS VERBOS AUXILIARES Y MODALES

En muchas ocasiones, los AUXILIARY VERBS y MODAL VERBS son utilizados de forma errónea. En este apartado nos ocuparemos de despejar dudas acerca de estos tipos de verbos.

1.-DO, DOES .- Se usan en el SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE. DOES, se utiliza
únicamente con la tercera persona del singular.
EJ:

Do you go to the library?

Does Mary play the piano?

Yes, she does.

2.-DID .- Es la forma pasada de DO, DOES. Por tanto se usa en el PAST
SIMPLE TENSE.
EJ:

Did he play the guitar?

Did you go to school yesterday?

3.-BE .- Se utiliza en PASSIVE VOICE.

EJ:

Rice is eaten

Tea is drunk

The door was opened

4.-AM, IS, ARE .- Sus usos se encuentran en el PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE y en PASSIVE VOICE.

EJ:

I am going to leave now

Peter is doing his homework at the moment

They are working now

5.-WAS, WERE .- Se usa en el PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE y en PASSIVE VOICE.

EJ:

I wasn't playing chess last sunday

We were watching tv last night

6.-WERE .- También podemos encontrar WERE en el PRESENT CONDITIONAL

EJ:

If I were you, I could buy a car

7.-HAVE, HAS .- Este verbo se usa en PRESENT PERFECT TENSE y el FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

EJ:

France has been a republic for many years

I shall have finished my work by 9 o'clock

8.-HAD .- Encontramos HAD en el PAST PERFECT TENSE y en el CONDITIONAL

EJ:

We had finished our work, so we went home

If I had saved my money, I would not be poor now

9.-SHALL, WILL .- Ambos son utilizados en el FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

EJ:

I shall be 22 on my next birthday

They will meet Mary and Peter at the dance, if they go

10.-SHOULD, WOULD .- Aunque ambos sean la forma pasada de SHALL y WILL, también se usan en el FUTURE CONDITIONAL

EJ:

If I knew, I would tell you

11.-USED TO .- Su única forma es el pasado. Su significado es "solía". La acción empieza y acaba en la misma frase.

EJ:

John used to live in London

12.-OUGHT TO, SHOULD .- Se usan para dar un aviso, una opinión o una obligación.

EJ:

You're losing weight, you ought to see a doctor

Shoud I stay, or should I go?

13.-MUST, NEED .- Cuando queremos expresar una obligación, utilizamos estos 2 verbos.

EJ:

A person must eat to live

I need some money to buy it

14.-CAN .- Este verbo es utilizado en expresiones que tienen que ver con la habilidad, la oportunidad y el permiso.

EJ:

Can you open the door please?

I can play the piano

While John is in London, he can learn English

15.-MAY .- Se utiliza en casos de permiso y probabilidad.

EJ:

May I ask you a question?

It may rain this afternoon

16.-MIGHT .- Es el pasado de MAY. Pero, se utiliza de igual forma.

EJ:

If you buy a lottery ticket, you might win a large prize

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

El Pasado Continuo, sirve para hablar de acciones que sucedían en un momento determinado del pasado. Su fórmula es :

SUJETO + WAS/WERE + VERBO PRINCIPAL + -ING + COMPLEMENTO

Ejemplo :

I was playing football yesterday.
aí uás pléiin fútbol iésterdei

They were dancing at the Disco last night.
déi uér déncin at de dísco lást náit

NOTA : Se utiliza WAS/WERE de acuerdo al sujeto que lo precede.
Para ello debemos conocer su conjugación.

I WAS
YOU WERE
HE/SHE/IT WAS
WE WERE
YOU WERE
THEY WERE

Para la forma interrogativa, lo único que hacemos es cambiar de posición las 2 primeras partes de la frase.

Were they dancing at the Disco last night?

En ocasiones se aplica el sentido lógico al hacer el cambio.

Were you playing football yesterday?

Was he playing football yesterday?

Para formar el negativo, se agrega NOT o N'T a WAS/WERE.

Ejemplo :

I was not/wasn't playing football yesterday.

They were not/weren't dancing at the Disco last night.

Por último, se aplican las mismas reglas en las terminaciones -ING del presente continuo, pero SOLO a los verbos.