Día 186 · Preguntas en pasado continuo (What were you doing…?)
⏱️ Duración total: ~3 h 15 min — Clase 60 min · Ejercicios 60 min · Reto 60 min · Quiz ~15 min. Puedes dividirlo en varias sesiones el mismo día.
🎯 Objetivo del día
- Al terminar formarás preguntas Yes/No en pasado continuo (Was she sleeping?).
- Formarás preguntas WH (What were you doing? Where were they going?).
- Darás respuestas cortas correctas (Yes, I was. / No, they weren't.).
- Combinarás la pregunta con when (What were you doing when …?).
- Entrevistarás y responderás sobre acciones del pasado.
📖 Clase (60 min)
Introducción y contexto
Hasta ahora has hecho afirmaciones y negaciones en pasado continuo. Para conversar de verdad necesitas preguntar. Las preguntas en pasado continuo son fáciles porque siguen la misma lógica que ya conoces con to be: solo invertimos el sujeto y el verbo was/were.
La pregunta más útil de todas es "What were you doing when …?" (¿Qué estabas haciendo cuando…?). Es la pregunta clásica de cualquier entrevista, interrogatorio policial de película o conversación sobre un suceso ("¿Qué hacías cuando te enteraste de la noticia?"). Hoy la dominamos junto con las respuestas cortas, esenciales para sonar natural.
Explicación detallada (regla por regla)
Regla 1 — Pregunta Yes/No: invierte was/were y el sujeto.
Was / Were + sujeto + verbo-ing?
- Was she sleeping? → ¿Estaba durmiendo?
- Were they playing football? → ¿Estaban jugando al fútbol?
- Were you working at 9? → ¿Estabas trabajando a las 9?
Regla 2 — Respuestas cortas.
Yes, sujeto + was/were. · No, sujeto + wasn't/weren't.
- Was she sleeping? → Yes, she was. / No, she wasn't.
- Were they playing? → Yes, they were. / No, they weren't.
- ✗ Yes, she was sleeping. (en respuesta corta NO se repite el verbo)
Regla 3 — Preguntas WH: palabra WH + was/were + sujeto + verbo-ing?
What / Where / Who / Why / How + was/were + sujeto + verbo-ing?
- What were you doing? → ¿Qué estabas haciendo?
- Where was she going? → ¿A dónde iba?
- Why were they shouting? → ¿Por qué gritaban?
- How were you feeling? → ¿Cómo te sentías?
Regla 4 — Who como sujeto (sin inversión).
Cuando who es el sujeto, no se invierte:
- Who was driving the car? → ¿Quién conducía el coche? (no: who was he driving)
Regla 5 — Pregunta + when (la combinación clave).
- What were you doing when the accident happened? → ¿Qué hacías cuando ocurrió el accidente?
- Where were they going when you saw them? → ¿A dónde iban cuando los viste?
Respuesta típica: I was driving home when it happened.
Vocabulario clave
| English | Pronunciación aprox. | Español |
|---|---|---|
| What were you doing? | uot uer yu dúing | ¿Qué estabas haciendo? |
| Where were you going? | uér uer yu góuing | ¿A dónde ibas? |
| Why was he crying? | uái uos ji kráing | ¿Por qué lloraba? |
| Who was driving? | ju uos dráiving | ¿Quién conducía? |
| How were you feeling? | jáu uer yu fíiling | ¿Cómo te sentías? |
| Yes, I was. | yes ái uos | Sí (lo estaba). |
| No, they weren't. | nóu déi uernt | No (no lo estaban). |
| at the time | at de táim | en ese momento |
| an accident | an áksident | un accidente |
| an interview | an ínterviu | una entrevista |
| a witness | a uítnes | un testigo |
| to investigate | tu invéstigueit | investigar |
| Where were you? | uér uer yu | ¿Dónde estabas? |
| around midnight | aráund mídnait | hacia medianoche |
| at that point | at dat póint | en ese punto/momento |
Gramática a fondo
| Tipo | Estructura | Ejemplo | Respuesta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes/No | Was/Were + suj. + -ing? | Were you working? | Yes, I was. / No, I wasn't. |
| WH (objeto) | WH + was/were + suj. + -ing? | What were you doing? | I was reading. |
| WH (sujeto = who) | Who + was + -ing? | Who was talking? | Maria was. |
| + when | WH + was/were + suj. + -ing + when + pasado simple? | What were you doing when he called? | I was sleeping. |
Tabla de respuestas cortas:
| Pregunta | Sí | No |
|---|---|---|
| Was I/he/she/it …? | Yes, … was. | No, … wasn't. |
| Were you/we/they …? | Yes, … were. | No, … weren't. |
Pronunciación y notas de uso
- En la pregunta, la entonación de Yes/No sube al final: Were you wórking? ↗
- En la WH, la entonación baja: What were you dóing? ↘
- were you se enlaza: suena casi /wə‿juː/ → "weryu doing".
- What were you en habla rápida: /wɒt wə jə/ — practícalo como bloque.
Errores comunes del hispanohablante
- ✗ What you were doing? → ✓ What were you doing? (invierte was/were y sujeto)
- ✗ Was she sleep? → ✓ Was she sleeping? (falta -ing)
- ✗ Did you were working? → ✓ Were you working? (no se usa did con was/were)
- ✗ Yes, I was working. (resp. corta) → ✓ Yes, I was.
- ✗ Who was he driving the car? → ✓ Who was driving the car? (who = sujeto)
- ✗ Where she was going? → ✓ Where was she going?
Mini-diálogo de ejemplo
Detective: Where were you at midnight? (¿Dónde estaba usted a medianoche?) Witness: I was sitting at home, watching TV. (Estaba sentado en casa, viendo la tele.) Detective: Was anyone staying with you? (¿Había alguien con usted?) Witness: No, there wasn't. I was alone. (No, no había nadie. Estaba solo.) Detective: What were you doing when you heard the noise? (¿Qué estaba haciendo cuando oyó el ruido?) Witness: I was making coffee when it happened. (Estaba haciendo café cuando ocurrió.)
✍️ Ejercicios (60 min)
Bloque 1 — Forma la pregunta Yes/No (10 min)
- (she / sleep) ___? 2. (they / play / football) ___? 3. (you / work / at 9) ___? 4. (he / drive) ___? 5. (we / talk too much) ___?
Bloque 2 — Respuesta corta (8 min)
- Was she sleeping? — Yes, ___. 2. Were they playing? — No, ___. 3. Were you working? — Yes, ___. 4. Was he driving? — No, ___.
Bloque 3 — Forma la pregunta WH (12 min)
- ___ you doing? (what) 2. ___ she going? (where) 3. ___ they shouting? (why) 4. ___ driving the car? (who) 5. ___ you feeling? (how)
Bloque 4 — Pregunta + when (10 min)
- (what / you / do) ___ when the phone rang? 2. (where / they / go) ___ when you saw them? 3. (what / she / cook) ___ when the lights went off?
Bloque 5 — Corrige los errores (8 min)
- What you were doing? 2. Was she sleep? 3. Did you were working? 4. Where she was going? 5. Who was he driving the car?
Bloque 6 — Traducción Español → Inglés (8 min)
- ¿Qué estabas haciendo? 2. ¿Dónde estaban ellos? 3. ¿Estaba ella durmiendo? — No, no lo estaba. 4. ¿Quién conducía? 5. ¿Qué hacías cuando llamé?
Bloque 7 — Producción (4 min)
Escribe 4 preguntas que le harías a un testigo de un accidente.
Ver soluciones
B1: 1. Was she sleeping? 2. Were they playing football? 3. Were you working at 9? 4. Was he driving? 5. Were we talking too much? B2: 1. Yes, she was. 2. No, they weren't. 3. Yes, I was. 4. No, he wasn't. B3: 1. What were you doing? 2. Where was she going? 3. Why were they shouting? 4. Who was driving the car? 5. How were you feeling? B4: 1. What were you doing when the phone rang? 2. Where were they going when you saw them? 3. What was she cooking when the lights went off? B5: 1. What were you doing? 2. Was she sleeping? 3. Were you working? 4. Where was she going? 5. Who was driving the car? B6: 1. What were you doing? 2. Where were they? 3. Was she sleeping? — No, she wasn't. 4. Who was driving? 5. What were you doing when I called? B7: Respuesta libre.
🚀 Reto del día (60 min)
"The interrogation" — role-play de entrevista.
- Imagina un suceso (un robo de oficina, un misterio gracioso). (5 min)
- Escribe un guion: el detective hace 8 preguntas (4 Yes/No, 4 WH, incluye 2 con when) y el testigo responde. (25 min)
- Comprueba inversión, -ing y respuestas cortas. (10 min)
- Grábate (1–2 min) haciendo las dos voces. (15 min)
- Autoevalúa. (5 min)
Rúbrica (0–10):
- Preguntas Yes/No correctas: 0–2
- Preguntas WH correctas: 0–3
- Respuestas cortas correctas: 0–2
- Preguntas con when: 0–2
- Fluidez y entonación: 0–1
✅ Quiz (~15 min)
- Estructura de pregunta Yes/No en pasado continuo = ?
- Respuesta corta a Were you working? (sí) = ?
- Respuesta corta a Was she sleeping? (no) = ?
- Corrige: What you were doing?
- Corrige: Did you were working?
- ¿Se invierte con who sujeto?
- Forma: Where / she / go (pregunta).
- Traduce: ¿Qué hacías cuando llamé?
- ¿Con qué tiempo va la parte de when?
- Corrige: Was she sleep?
Ver respuestas
- Was/Were + sujeto + verbo-ing? 2. Yes, I was. 3. No, she wasn't. 4. What were you doing? 5. Were you working? 6. No, no se invierte. 7. Where was she going? 8. What were you doing when I called? 9. Pasado simple. 10. Was she sleeping?
📚 Recursos
- British Council — Past continuous questions: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org
- BBC Learning English — Question forms: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
- Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org
⏭️ Siguiente
Mañana: ponemos todo junto en tiempos narrativos — past simple, past continuous y conectores de secuencia para contar una historia completa y fluida.
Quiz
Q What is the structure of a Yes/No question in past continuous?
* Was/Were + subject + verbo-ing?
- Did + subject + verbo-ing?
- Subject + was/were + verbo-ing?
Q Short answer (yes) to "Were you working?"
* Yes, I was.
- Yes, I were.
- Yes, I was working.
Q Choose the correct question.
* What were you doing?
- What you were doing?
- What did you doing?
Q Do you invert when "who" is the subject?
* No, there is no inversion.
- Yes, always.
- Yes, with "did".