Adems de los ocho tiempos simples que hemos visto, que corresponden a acciones habituales o afirmaciones de carcter general, el indicativo ingls tiene otros tantos tiempos denominados continuos o progresivos, porque corresponden a acciones en curso o puntuales. Todos ellos se forman conjugando el verbo to be seguido del verbo principal en participio presente (es decir, terminado en -ing). Los auxiliares to have will o would se usan igual que en los tiempos queya hemos visto y no cambian en ninguno de ellos (no se aade s). Al aadir el verbo to be delante, los tiempos simples que slo tenan una palabra ahora tendrn dos; los que tenan dos palabras (un auxiliar ms el verbo principal) ahora tendrn tres y los que tenan tres (dos auxiliares ms el verbo principal) tendrn ahora cuatro. Ejemplos: Tiempos no continuos (habituales) Correspondientes continuos Presente simple I love I am loving Presente perfecto I have loved I have been loving Pasado simple I loved I was loving Pasado perfecto I had loved I had been loving Futuro simple I will love I will be loving Futuro perfecto I will have loved I will have been loving Condicional simple I would love I would be loving Condicional perfecto I would have loved I would have been loving Observad cmo en todos los casos he cambiado el verbo love por to be + loving. En los tiempos en que aparece el participio pasado loved lo he remplazado por been loving, es decir el participio pasado de to be (been) seguido del participio presente de to love ( loving). Antes de seguir conviene hacer una aclaracin terminolgica. Ya os dije que no hay uso ms ambiguo del lenguaje que el que se aplica a la explicacin del propio lenguaje. La palabra simple se utiliza (y en consecuencia tendremos que utilizarla) con doble sentido: 1. Por una parte, para distinguir tiempos no perfectos (simples) de tiempos perfectos. Por ejemplo, presente simple he loves de presente perfecto he has loved; o pasado simple he loved de pasado perfecto he had loved. 2. Por otra, para contrastar los ocho tiempos no continuos (comnmente denominados simples) de los ocho continuos. En la tabla anterior he escrito tiempos no continuos, pero en la mayora de las gramticas encontraris tiempos simples. Por esta razn, al denominar los tiempos continuos tratar de evitar la palabra simple en el primero de los sentidos anteriores, para oponer tiempos no perfectos a tiempos perfectos, con el fin de prevenir errores. As denominar presente continuo a lo que es en realidad presente continuo simple; pasado continuo a lo que es en realidad pasado continuo simple. En la siguiente tabla resumo las equivalencias:
TIEMPOS DE INDICATIVO
TIEMPOS NO CONTINUOS Presente simple Presente perfecto Pasado simple Pasado perfecto Futuro simple Futuro perfecto Condicional simple Condicional perfecto TIEMPOS CONTINUOS Presente continuo (presente continuo simple) Presente continuo perfecto Pasado continuo Pasado continuo perfecto Futuro continuo Futuro continuo perfecto Condicional continuo Condicional continuo perfecto
Veamos ahora, la conjugacin completa de cada uno de los tiempos, como hicimos con los tiempos simples. Lo haremos con un verbo regular y otro irregular para que veis las diferencias.
Verbo irregular
am writing (estoy escribiendo) are writing (ests escribiendo) is writing (est escribiendo) are writing (estamos escribiendo) are writing (estis escribiendo) are writing (estn escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
have been writing (he estado escribiendo) have been writing (has estado escribiendo) has been writing (ha estado escribiendo) have been writing (hemos estado escribiendo) have been writing (habis estado escribiendo) have been writing (han estado escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
was writing (estaba escribiendo) were writing (estabas escribiendo) was writing (estaba escribiendo) were writing (estbamos escribiendo) were writing (estabais escribiendo) were writing (estaban escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
had been writing (haba estado escribiendo) had been writing (habas estado escribiendo) had been writing (haba estado escribiendo) had been writing (habamos estado escribiendo) had been writing (habais estado escribiendo) had been writing (haban estado escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
will be writing (estar escribiendo) will be writing (estars escribiendo) will be writing (estar escribiendo) will be writing (estaremos escribiendo) will be writing (estaris escribiendo) will be writing (estarn escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
will have been writing (habr estado escribiendo) will have been writing (habrs estado escribiendo) will have been writing (habr estado escribiendo) will have been writing (habremos estado escribiendo) will have been writing (habris estado escribiendo) will have been writing (habrn estado escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
would be writing (estara escribiendo) would be writing (estaras escribiendo) would be writing (estara escribiendo) would be writing (estaramos escribiendo) would be writing (estarais escribiendo) would be writing (estaran escribiendo)
Verbo irregular
would have been writing (habra estado escribiendo) would have been writing (habras estado escribiendo) would have been writing (habra estado escribiendo) would have been writing (habramos estado escribiendo) would have been writing (habrais estado escribiendo) would have been writing (habran estado escribiendo)
Prctiqumoslo ahora con algunos ejercicios. Completa los tiempos siguientes (las respuestas al final): Verbo to walk (caminar/andar/pasear). Regular. Presente simple I You He / She / It We You They Presente perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They Presente perfecto continuo Presente continuo
Pasado continuo
Pasado perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They Futuro simple I You He / She / It We You They Futuro perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They Condicional simple I You He / She / It We You They Condicional perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They
Futuro continuo
Condicional continuo
Verbo to speak spoke - spoken (hablar). Irregular. Presente simple I You He / She / It We You They Presente perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They Pasado simple I You He / She / It We You They Pasado perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They Pasado perfecto continuo Pasado continuo Presente perfecto continuo Presente continuo
Futuro simple I You He / She / It We You They Futuro perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They Condicional simple I You He / She / It We You They Condicional perfecto simple I You He / She / It We You They
Futuro continuo
Condicional continuo
Verbo to walk (caminar/andar/pasear). Regular. Presente simple I You We You They walk walk walk walk walk Presente perfecto simple I You We You They have walked have walked have walked have walked have walked Pasado simple I You We You They walked walked walked walked walked Pasado perfecto simple I You We You They had walked had walked had walked had walked had walked Presente continuo am walking are walking is walking are walking are walking are walking Presente perfecto continuo have been walking have been walking has been walking have been walking have been walking have been walking Pasado continuo was walking were walking was walking were walking were walking were walking Pasado perfecto continuo had been walking had been walking had been walking had been walking had been walking had been walking
He / She / It walks
He / She / It walked
Futuro simple I You We You They will walk will walk will walk will walk will walk Futuro perfecto simple I You We You They will have walked will have walked will have walked will have walked will have walked Condicional simple I You We You They would walk would walk would walk would walk would walk Condicional perfecto simple I You We You They would have walked would have walked would have walked would have walked would have walked
Futuro continuo will be walking will be walking will be walking will be walking will be walking will be walking Futuro perfecto continuo will have been walking will have been walking will have been walking will have been walking will have been walking will have been walking Condicional continuo would be walking would be walking would be walking would be walking would be walking would be walking Condicional perfecto continuo would have been walking would have been walking would have been walking would have been walking would have been walking would have been walking
Verbo to speak spoke - spoken (hablar). Irregular. Presente simple I You We You They speak speak speak speak speak Presente perfecto simple I You We You They have spoken have spoken have spoken have spoken have spoken Pasado simple I You We You They spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke Pasado perfecto simple I You We You They had spoken had spoken had spoken had spoken had spoken Presente continuo am speaking are speaking is speaking are speaking are speaking are speaking Presente perfecto continuo have been speaking have been speaking has been speaking have been speaking have been speaking have been speaking Pasado continuo was speaking were speaking was speaking were speaking were speaking were speaking Pasado perfecto continuo had been speaking had been speaking had been speaking had been speaking had been speaking had been speaking
He / She / It speaks
He / She / It spoke
Futuro simple I You We You They will speak will speak will speak will speak will speak Futuro perfecto simple I You We You They will have spoken will have spoken will have spoken will have spoken will have spoken Condicional simple I You We You They would speak would speak would speak would speak would speak Condicional perfecto simple I You We You They would have spoken would have spoken would have spoken would have spoken would have spoken
Futuro continuo will be speaking will be speaking will be speaking will be speaking will be speaking will be speaking Futuro perfecto continuo will have been speaking will have been speaking will have been speaking will have been speaking will have been speaking will have been speaking Condicional continuo would be speaking would be speaking would be speaking would be speaking would be speaking would be speaking Condicional perfecto continuo would have been speaking would have been speaking would have been speaking would have been speaking would have been speaking would have been speaking