Tags Questions

The tag questions are short phrases or questions (mini-questions) which is placed at the end of an affirmative or negative sentence and generally aim to confirm or deny the content of the phrase itself.It is equivalent to it? Spanish or no? most used in Latin.

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THREE BASIC RULES YOU SHOULD REMEMBER
1.	The tag questions always use auxiliary verbs.
2.	With affirmative sentences use a tag question negative.
3.	With negative sentences use a tag question in the affirmative or positive.

Let us now analyze the different alternatives that may arise:

a) Affirmative sentences with the verb TO BE IN PRESENT SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS.

The same form of the verb is used in NEGATIVE: are not you? is not he? is not she? is not it? are not we? are not you? They are not? Here are some examples:

It's a beautiful day, isn't it? (Es un día hermoso, ¿no?)Martha is angry, isn't she? (Marta está enojada, ¿verdad?)You are really tired, aren't you? (Estás muy cansado, ¿no?)They're very nice people, aren't they? (Son personas muy agradables, ¿no?)You are coming tomorrow, aren't you? (Vas a venir mañana, ¿verdad?)Pedro's flying now, isn't he? (Pedro está volando en estos momentos, ¿no?)

Please remember that in American English and only in this particular case, for the first person of the verb to be used are not I? as I am not equivalent ?:

I'm late, aren't I? (Llego tarde, ¿no?)I'm arriving late at night, aren't I? (LLegaré tarde por la noche, ¿no?)

b) Negative sentences with the verb TO BE IN PRESENT SIMPLE OR CONTINUOUS.

I am: the same form of the verb in the affirmative or positive is used? are you? is he? is she? is it? are we? are you? are they? Here are some examples

I'm not late, am I? (No llego tarde, ¿no?)It isn't a beautiful day, is it? (No es un día hermoso, ¿verdad?)Martha isn't angry, is she? (Marta no está enojada, ¿no?)You aren't really tired, are you? (No estás muy cansado, ¿verdad?)They aren't very nice people, are they? (No son personas muy agradables, ¿no?)You aren't coming tomorrow, are you? (No vas a venir mañana, ¿no?)Pedro isn't flying now, is he? (Pedro no está volando en estos momentos, ¿no?) c) Affirmative sentences with the verb TO BE IN SINGLE OR CONTINUOUS PAST. The same form of the verb is used in NEGATIVE: was not I? Were not you? was not he? was not she? was not it? Were not we? Were not you? Were not They? Here are some examples: It was a beautiful day, wasn't it? (Fue un día hermoso, ¿verdad?)Martha was angry, wasn't she? (Marta estaba enojada, ¿no?)You were really tired, weren't you? (Estabas muy cansado, ¿verdad?)You were studying at 6, weren't you? (Estuviste estudiando a las 6, ¿no?)He was flying when I phoned, wasn't he? (Estaba volando cuando llamé, ¿no?)

Continuous Future

Conjugation of continuous future

Construction of continuous future progressive in English is:

SUBJECT + will be + verb-ing TERMINATION (gerund)

Conjugación	Significado
	yo estaré caminando
	tú estarás caminando
	él estará caminando
	nosotros estaremos caminando
	vosotros estáis caminando
	ellos estarán caminando

The denial continued future

For denial, just the adverb "not" after the auxiliary verb "will" is added:

structure:

Will not be subject + verb + gerund

yo no estaré trabajando la semana que viene

Tom no estará jugando este domingo

The Interrogation

As in the rest of tenses, the question is constructed by reversing the order of subject and auxiliary verb "will":

SUBJECT + will be + gerund

will you be studying tomorrow?
¿estarás estudiando mañana?

Exercise

Presente Continuos

Conjugation of the present continuous

The structure of the present continuous (Present Continuous) in English is simple:

[SUBJECT] + am / are / is (verb to be) + [verb ING (gerund)]

Conjugación	Significado
I am singing	yo estoy cantando
you are singing	tú estás cantando
he is singing	él está cantando
we are singing	nosotros estamos cantando
you are singing	vosotros estáis cantando
they are singing	ellos están cantando

Construction of the gerund

As a general rule to form the gerund in English "-ing" is added.

But must take into account some considerations:

Gerund verbs ending in -ie

Completion "-ie" with "ying" is replaced.

Verbo	Gerundio
die	dying
lie	lying

Gerund verbs ending in -e

The "-e" final is replaced by "-ing"

Verbo	Gerundio
use	using
have	having

Bending of the final consonant in the formation of the gerund

Many double their consonant verbs to formally end the gerund:

Verbo	Gerundio
get	getting
set	setting
forbid	forbidding

So that the bending is made you will have to meet these three conditions:

The word ends in a single consonant (other than r, w, x or y) [example: set]

The last consonant is preceded by a single vowel. [example: let]

The word is monosyllabic or the accent falls on the last syllable or word ending in "L"

The negation in the Present Continuous

Negation with full verbs (ie no manners and no auxiliary) is very simple:

[SUBJECT] + am / are / is (verb "to be") + not + [verb ING (gerund)]

yo no estoy cantando

él no está cantando

The question in the present continuous

To construct the question you just have to reverse the order of subject and verb to be:

Structure of the question:

am / are / is + [SUBJECT] + [verb "-ing"]?

Conjugación	Significado
am I singing?	¿estoy cantando?
are you singing?	¿estás cantando?
is he singing?	¿está cantando?
are we singing?	¿estamos cantando?
are you singing?	¿estáis cantando?
are they singing?	¿están cantando?

Exercise

Present perfect

Perfect tense

The structure of the present perfect in English is:

[SUBJECT] + have / has + [participle of the verb]

Conjugación	Significado
I have played	yo he jugado
you have played	tú has jugado
he has played	él ha jugado
we have played	nosotros hemos jugado
you have played	vosotros habéis jugado
they have played	ellos han jugado

As you can see the auxiliary "it has" used in the third person singular and auxilar "have" in other cases.

Construction of the participle

Regular verbs form the participle "-ed" is added.

play➜played

But must take into account some considerations:

irregular verbs

For irregular verbs must be memorized his way past participle.

Verbo	Participio	Significado
to go	gone	ir
to make	made	hacer

Participle verbs in "-e"

Regular verbs ending with "-e" participle form its simply adding a "d".

Verbo	Participio	Significado
	used	usar
	excused	disculpar

Negation in the present perfect

Negation in the present perfect does not have any complications. Its structure is simply:

[SUBJECT] + have / has + not + [verb participle]

         

         He has not played well

Él no ha jugado bien

I have not eaten in 2 days

(Yo) no he comido en 2 días

The question in the present perfect

The question is constructed by reversing the order of subject and verb to have. That is to say:

Have / has + [SUBJECT] + [verb participle]?

Conjugación	Significado
have I done?	¿he hecho?
have you done?	¿has hecho?
has he done?	¿he hecho?
have we done?	¿hemos hecho?
have you done?	¿habéis hecho?
have they done?	¿han hecho?

If prayer had an interrogative particle form would be:

[Interrogative particle] + have + [SUBJECT] + [verb participle]?

What have you done?

¿Qué has hecho?

Using the present perfect

The present perfect is used to:

Actions that began in the past and have not finished in this

I have not slept in the past two days

No he dormido en los últimos 2 días

Actions that began and ended in the past but continues its effect on the present.
I am not hungry Because I have eaten an apple
I'm not hungry because I've eaten an apple

The nuance of the above example is that although we have finished eating the apple, this action has an impact on the present (not hungry at present for having eaten the apple)

I have bought a car
(I) I bought a car

The nuance of this second example is that although the act of buying over, the car still belongs to us in the present (continuous effect of the action).

Exercise

http://www.inglessencillo.com/presente-perfecto

Past Continuous

Conjugation of the past continuous

The structure of the Past Continuous (Past Continuous Tense) is:


[SUBJECT] + was / were + [verb ending -ing (gerund)]

Conjugación	Significado
	yo estaba trabajando
	tú estabas trabajando
	él estaba trabajando
	nosotros estábamos trabajando
	vosotros estabais trabajando
	ellos estaban trabajando

Negation in the past continuous

Negation is formed by simply adding the adverb "not" from the verb "to be" (was / were) and the main verb of the sentence:

structure:

[SUBJECT] + was / were not + [verb the -ing (gerund)]

          I was not singing

yo no estaba cantando

he was not singing

él no estaba cantando

The interrogation continued past

To construct the question just the verb "to be" and the subject is reversed:

Structure of the question:

was / were + [SUBJECT] + [verb the -ing (gerund)]?

Conjugación	Significado
was I singing?	¿estaba cantando?
were you singing?	¿estabas cantando?
was he singing?	¿estaba cantando?
were we singing?	¿estábamos cantando?
were you singing?	¿estabais cantando?
were they singing?	¿estaban cantando?

If the question had an interrogative particle structure would

[Interrogative particle] + was / were + [SUBJECT] + [verb the -ing (gerund)]

What were you singing?

¿Qué estabas cantando?

Using the past continuous

The "past continuous" is used to:

Actions that began in the past and want to stress that had a certain duration.

I was eating an apple, when I fell to the ground

Me estaba comiendo una manzana cuando caí al suelo

In the above example the past continuous is used to describe the action of eating the apple he had a certain length but the drop was instantaneous.

Exercise Past Continuos

Past Simple

The structure of "simple past" (Simple Past Tense) in English is:

 The structure of "simpe past" (Simple Past Tense) in English is:

[SUBJECT] + [past tense, ending "-ed"]

Conjugación	Significado
	yo trabajé
	tú trabajaste
	él trabajó
	nosotros trabajamos
	vosotros trabajasteis
	ellos trabajaron

Construction of the past

In general, to form the past in English, "-ed" is added to a verb.

But must take into account some considerations:

irregular verbs

For irregular verbs must be memorized his way past.

we show some examples of irregular verbs:

Verbo	Pasado	Significado
to go	went	ir
to buy	bought	comprar
to have	had	tener
to be	was/were	ser o estar

Fui a la universidad de Oxford

Past verbs ending in "-e"

To form the past the "-e" final is replaced by "-ed".

Verbo	Pasado
use	used
die	died

Negation in pasast simple

The formation of negation in "simple past" is simpler than affirmation.

Its structure is:

[SUBJECT] + did + not + [infinitive (without to)]

We show you a couple of examples:

yo no canté

él no cantó

The question in the simple past

To construct the question the auxiliary verb to do is used in the past (did).

The structure is:

Did + [SUBJECT] + [infinitive (without to)]?

Conjugación	Significado
did I sing?	¿canté?
did you sing?	¿cantaste?
did he sing?	¿cantó?
did we sing?	¿cantamos?
did you sing?	¿cantasteis?
did they sing?	¿cantaron?

If the question had an interrogative particle structure would

[Interrogative particle] + did + [SUBJECT] + [infinitive]?

What did you sing?

¿Qué cantaste?

Using the simple past

The "simple past" is used to:

Actions that began in the past and are now complete.

I ate an apple yesterday

Me comí una manzana ayer

Present Simple (Presente simple)

FORM

To conjugate the present simple to use the inifinitivo subjects "I", "you", "we" and "they" and another for "he", "she" and "it", we added a "-s" to end of the verb.

Subject	Conjugation
I, You, We, They	talk, eat, learn, watch, do, go...
He, She, It	talks, eats, learns, watches, does, goes...

Structure (Estructura)

1. Affirmative Sentences (Frases afirmativas)
   StructureSubject + Main verb.
   • Examples:
   • Play
     I talk. (Yo hablo.)
   • Play
     He eats. (Él come.)
   • Play
     They learn. (Ellos aprenden.)
2. Negative Sentences (Frases negativas)
   StructureSubject + auxiliary verb ("to do") + negative assistant ("not") + main verb.
   • Examples:
   • Play
     I do not [don't] talk. (Yo no hablo.)
   • Play
     He does not [doesn't] eat. (Él no come.)
   • Play
     They do not [don't] learn. (Ellos no aprenden.)
3. Interrogative Sentences (Frases interrogativas)
   StructureAuxiliary Verb ("to do") + subject+ main verb
   • Examples:
   • Play
     Do you talk? (¿Hablas tú?)
   • Play
     Does he eat? (¿Come él?)
   • Play
     Do they learn? (¿Aprenden ellos?)
   Más información sobre la estructura de frases

Uses (Usos)

1. The simple present is used to talk about things that usually happen. Unlike the Spanish, the simple present is not used to talk about something that is happening at the moment in which we speak.

It is typically used with the present simple adverbs of time:

Play

always (siempre),

Play

 every day (cada día),

Play

usually (normalmente),

Play

often (a menudo),

Play

sometimes (a veces),

Play

rarely (raramente),

Play

hardly ever (casi nunca),

Play

never (nunca)...

• Examples:
• Play
   I always talk to my mother on Sundays. (Siempre hablo con mi madre los domingos.)
• Play
  He never eats vegetables. (Nunca come las verduras.)
• They learn something new in class.They usually learn something new in class. (Normalmente aprenden algo nuevo en la clase.)

Excepción:

Time adverbs go before the verb, except the verb "to be" (ser / estar). When "to be" used the verb goes before the adverb.

• Examples:
• Play
  I am always happy. (Siempre estoy contento.)
• Play
  He is often sick. (A menudo él está enfermo.)
• Play
  They are rarely late. (En raras ocasiones llegan tarde.)

2. It is used to speak in generalities or scientific facts.

• Examples:
• Play
  He does not [doesn't] eat vegetables. (Él no come verduras.)
• Play
  She works in a hospital. (Ella trabaja en una hospital.)
• Play
  Elephants live in Africa. (Los elefantes viven en África.)
• Play
   Bogota is in Colombia. (Bogotá está en Colombia.)
• Play
  Do children like animals? (¿Les gustan a los niños los animales?)
• Play
  Adults do not [don't] know everything. (Los adultos no lo saben todo.)

3. It is used for events scheduled in the near future.

• Examples:
• Play
  The train leaves at 10:00. (El tren sale a las 10h.)
• Play
  The party is tonight. (La fiesta es esta noche.)
• Play
  Does the festival start tomorrow? (¿Empieza el festival mañana?)
• Play
  The plane does not [doesn't] arrive today. (El avión no llega hoy.)

4. Used for instructions (imperative).

• Ejemplos:
• Play
  Open the window. (Abre la ventana.)
• Play
  Eat the vegetables. (Come las verduras.)
• Play
  Don't cry. (No llores.)
• Play
  Do your homework. (Haz los deberes.)
• Play
  Call your mother. (Llama a tu madre.)