Comprehensive Study Guide to English Tenses, Phonetics, Time, and Prepositions

Overview of Core Verb Tenses and Grammatical Structures

• Session Scope and Core Timeline:

  • Grammar structures span across past, present, and future timeframes: $\text{Past} \longleftarrow \text{Present} \longrightarrow \text{Future}$.

  • Key dates recorded for instruction: October 1, 2026; October 8th, 2026; and October 15th, 2026.

• Present Simple (Presente Simple):

  • Definition and Usage: Used to express facts, habits, and daily routines (hechos, hábitos y rutinas).

  • Grammatical Structure: $S + V + C$ (Subject + Verb in present tense + Complement).

  • Auxiliary Verbs: $V_{be}$ (am, is, are) or do / does.

  • Common Signal Phrases: Frequency adverbs (adverbios de frecuencia).

  • Exemplary Sentences:

  • "I'm an English student"

  • "He works at Traki"

  • "It is a labrador retriever mix" (or "Tis a lab retriever mix")

• Present Continuous (Presente Continuo):

  • Definition and Usage: Used for actions occurring in real time at the moment of speaking (acciones en tiempo presente / en tiempo real).

  • Grammatical Structure: $S + V_{be} + V\text{-ing} + C$

  • Auxiliary Verb: Conjugated forms of $V_{be}$ (am, is, are).

  • Exemplary Sentence: "His cousin's friends are studying at Fondo UC right now"

• Past Simple (Pasado Simple):

  • Definition and Usage: Used to express actions completed entirely in the past (acciones culminadas en el pasado).

  • Grammatical Structure: $S + V_{past} + C$

  • Auxiliary Verbs: $V_{past}$ forms of be (was / were) or the auxiliary did.

  • Common Signal Phrases: Past time markers and expressions, such as yesterday and last [time unit] (e.g., last night, last year, last month, last shift, last weekend).

• Future Plan (Going To):

  • Definition and Usage: Used for future plans and actions determined with certainty (acciones futuras con certeza / planes futuros).

  • Grammatical Structure: $S + V_{be} + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C$

  • Auxiliary Verb: The verb $V_{be}$ (am, is, are), which must always be present and conjugated to match the subject.

  • Core Invariance Rule: The main verb always remains in its base infinitive form ($V_{base}$). The phrase going to is invariant and does not change form regardless of the subject pronoun. It translates directly to the Spanish "ir a" followed by an action or place.

  • Complementing Expressions: Frequently completed with future time expressions such as today, tonight, tomorrow, next week, or next time.

The Verb "To Be" in the Present and Past Simple

• Conjugation Matrix:

  • Subject pronoun I: Present = am; Past = was.

  • Subject pronoun You: Present = are; Past = were.

  • Subject pronouns He, She, It: Present = is; Past = was.

  • Subject pronouns We, You, They: Present = are; Past = were.

• Declarative Affirmative Sentence Examples:

  • "I was at home last night"

  • "You were my best friend last year"

  • "He was a good doctor"

  • "She was on-call last shift"

  • "It was a green and gold design"

  • "We were warriors of yesterday"

  • "You were in book 2 last month"

  • "They were enemies before they were lovers"

• Negative Form and Contractions:

  • $was + not = wasn't$

  • $were + not = weren't$

• Confirmation (Yes/No) Question Structures:

  • Declarative form: $S + V_{be} + C$

  • Interrogative inversion: $V_{past} + S + C + ?$

  • Affirmative short answer structure: (+) Yes, + S + V_{past}. + Sentence / Context state

  • Negative short answer structure: (-) No, + S + V_{past} + not. + Sentence / Context (S + V + C)

• Dialogue and Question-and-Answer Pairs:

  • Question: "Were you at home last night?"

  • Affirmative Response: "Yes, I was. I was at home"

  • Negative Response: "No, I wasn't. I was at work"

  • Question: "Were you my best friend last year?"

  • Affirmative Response: "Yes, I was. I was your best friend"

  • Negative Response: "No, I wasn't. I was your enemy"

  • Question: "Was he a good doctor?"

  • Affirmative Response: "Yes, he was. He was an excellent doctor"

  • Negative Response: "No, he wasn't. He was a good engineer"

  • Question: "Was she on-call last shift?"

  • Question: "Was it a green and gold design?"

  • Affirmative Response: "Yes, it was. It was a beautiful design"

  • Negative Response: "No, it wasn't. It was a blue design"

  • Question: "Were we warriors of yesterday?"

  • Affirmative Response: "Yes, we were. We were excellent warriors"

  • Negative Response: "No, we weren't. We were warriors of today"

  • Question: "Were you in book 2 last month?"

  • Affirmative Response: "Yes, you were in book 2"

  • Negative Response: "No, we weren't. We were in book 1"

  • Question: "Were they enemies before they were lovers?"

  • Negative Response: "No, they weren't. They were lovers before they were enemies"

Past Existence: There Was and There Were

• Definition and Grammatical Forms:

  • Expresses past existence (existencia en el pasado), corresponding to the Spanish hubo or había.

  • Singular Existence: There was.

  • Plural Existence: There were.

• Exemplary Affirmative and Negative Sentences:

  • "There was a problem last night"

  • "There were riots about Consele in Corp" (Note: riots translates to Spanish protestas).

  • "There wasn't a single student I hated since last semester"

  • "There weren't any complaints during the last test"

Past Simple of Action Verbs (Without "To Be")

• Classification of English Verbs in the Past:

  • English verbs in the past simple without the verb "to be" adhere to the basic formula: $S + V_{past} + C$.

  • Verbs are split into two principal morphological categories: Irregular and Regular.

• Irregular Verbs (Verbos Irregulares):

  • Defined as verbs lacking a fixed rule for transition into the past form (sin norma para pasar al pasado).

  • Principal patterns and base-past-participle sets:

  • go $\rightarrow$ went $\rightarrow$ gone

  • read $\rightarrow$ read $\rightarrow$ read (orthographically invariant; pronunciation changes)

  • cut $\rightarrow$ cut $\rightarrow$ cut (completely invariant)

  • am / are / is $\rightarrow$ was / were $\rightarrow$ been

• Regular Verbs (Verbos Regulares):

  • Defined as verbs that form their past simple and past participle by affixing -ed to the base root (añaden -ed al pasado y participio).

  • Paradigm examples:

  • work $\rightarrow$ worked $\rightarrow$ worked

  • call $\rightarrow$ called $\rightarrow$ called

  • paint $\rightarrow$ painted $\rightarrow$ painted

Phonetic Rules for Pronouncing the Regular Past Ending "-ed"

• Core Phonological Principle:

  • The phonetic realisation of the -ed suffix depends strictly upon the final sound of the base verb (depende del último sonido del verbo).

• Condition 1: Voiceless Sounds (Sonidos Sin Vibración):

  • When the base verb ends in a voiceless consonant sound (vocal cords do not vibrate), including /k/, /p/, /ʃ/ (sh), /tʃ/ (ch), and /s/, the -ed ending is pronounced as a voiceless alveolar plosive: /t/.

  • Examples and Phonetic Transcriptions:

  • work /wɜːrk/ $\rightarrow$ worked /wɜːrkt/

  • wash /wɒʃ/ $\rightarrow$ washed /wɒʃt/

  • finish /ˈfɪnɪʃ/ $\rightarrow$ finished /ˈfɪnɪʃt/

  • stop /stɒp/ $\rightarrow$ stopped /stɒpt/

• Condition 2: Verbs Ending in Alveolar Plosives /t/ and /d/:

  • When the base verb ends explicitly in the sounds /t/ or /d/, an extra syllable is added, and the -ed ending is pronounced as /ɪd/ (or /id/).

  • Examples and Phonetic Transcriptions:

  • paint /peɪnt/ $\rightarrow$ painted /ˈpeɪntɪd/

  • fade /feɪd/ $\rightarrow$ faded /ˈfeɪdɪd/

  • start /stɑːrt/ $\rightarrow$ started /ˈstɑːrtɪd/

  • side /saɪd/ $\rightarrow$ sided /ˈsaɪdɪd/

• Condition 3: Voiced Sounds (Sonidos Con Vibración):

  • When the base verb ends in a voiced consonant sound (where the vocal cords vibrate) or any vowel sound, the -ed suffix is pronounced as a voiced alveolar plosive: /d/.

  • Examples and Phonetic Transcriptions:

  • call /kɔːl/ $\rightarrow$ called /kɔːld/

  • name /neɪm/ $\rightarrow$ named /neɪmd/

  • change /tʃeɪndʒ/ $\rightarrow$ changed /tʃeɪndʒd/

Interrogative Structures, Confirmation Questions, and Wh- Questions in the Past Simple

• The Auxiliary "Did" and Verb Reset Rule:

  • All questions and negative sentences in the past simple for action verbs require the auxiliary did.

  • Fundamental Rule: Whenever the auxiliary did (or didn't) is present in the clause, the main lexical verb MUST revert to its base infinitive form ($V_{base}$).

  • Negative Clause Structure: $S + \text{did} + \text{not} + V_{base} + C$ (Contraction: didn't).

• Confirmation (Yes/No) Questions:

  • Declarative to Interrogative Transformation:     $S + V_{past} + C \longrightarrow \text{Did} + S + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Transformation Baseline Examples:

  • Declarative: "I worked for my dad" $\longrightarrow$ Question: "Did you work for your dad?"

  • Declarative: "He called you last night" $\longrightarrow$ Question: "Did he call you last night?"

  • Declarative: "They painted a mural" $\longrightarrow$ Question: "Did they paint a mural?"

  • Declarative: "She wrote The Vampire Chronicles" $\longrightarrow$ Question: "Did she write The Vampire Chronicles?"

  • Declarative: "We went to Todaremo last weekend" $\longrightarrow$ Question: "Did you go to Todaremo last weekend?"

  • Declarative: "You sold your car three months ago" $\longrightarrow$ Question: "Did you sell your car three months ago?"

  • Short Answer Formulations:

  • Affirmative: (+) Yes, + S + did. + Sentence

  • Negative: (-) No, + S + did + not. + Sentence

  • Dialogue Practice Example:

  • Question: "Did you work for your dad?"

  • Answer: "Yes, I did. I worked the morning shift"

• Information (Wh-) Questions:

  • Standard Information Question Formula:     $\text{Wh-word} + \text{did} + S + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Standard interrogative pronouns: What, When, Where, What time, How often.

  • Questions with Specified Direct Objects / Quantity / Possession:     $\text{Wh-word} + \text{Object} + \text{did} + S + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Determinative interrogatives: How much, How many (+ object), Whose (+ object).

  • Subject Questions with "Who":     $\text{Who} + V_{past} + C + ?$

  • Special exception: When Who serves as the grammatical subject of the inquiry (asking which person executed the action), the auxiliary did is omitted, and the main verb remains conjugated in its past simple form ($V_{past}$).

Expressing Time and Clock Conventions (British vs. American Systems)

• Interrogative Prompts for Telling Time:

  • What time is it? $\longrightarrow$ Inquires about the exact current moment (¿Qué hora es ahorita?).

  • What time + V_{act} + ? $\longrightarrow$ Inquires about the scheduled hour an action or event takes place (¿A qué hora es / sucede algo?).

  • Standard response formula: $It + V_{be} + \dots$

• General Clock Equivalencies:

  • Exact Hour: $HH:00 = HH\text{ o'clock / sharp}$

  • $1:00 = \text{one o'clock}$

  • $2:00 = \text{two sharp}$

  • $8:00 = \text{eight o'clock}$

  • $15\text{ minutes} = \text{a quarter}$

  • $30\text{ minutes} = \text{half}$

  • $12:00 = \text{noon}$

• The British Time System:

  • Minutes 01 through 30: Uses the formula $mm\text{ past }HH$.

  • $4:15 = \text{a quarter past four}$

  • $5:20 = \text{twenty past five}$

  • $6:25 = \text{twenty-five past six}$

  • The Half Hour ($HH:30$): Uses the formula $\text{half past }HH$.

  • $7:30 = \text{half past seven}$

  • $8:30 = \text{half past eight}$

  • $9:30 = \text{half past nine}$

  • Minutes 31 through 59: Uses the formula $mm\text{ (minutes remaining)} + \text{to} + HH\text{ (next upcoming hour)}$.

  • $10:40 = \text{twenty to eleven}$

  • $11:50 = \text{ten to twelve}$

  • $12:45\text{ (or }2:45) = \text{a quarter to one / a quarter to three}$

• The American Time System:

  • Directly reads digits sequentially as numbers (se lee el número), commonly employed in work shift contexts (shift / turno).

  • $1:10 = \text{one ten}$

  • $6:15 = \text{six fifteen}$

Prepositions of Time and Date Conventions

• Contextual Functions of "En" in English:

  • The Spanish preposition "en" splits into distinct English prepositions based strictly on the time unit:

  • at + Specific Time: Used for hours and exact clock times ($HH:MM$). Example: at one o'clock, at 1:30.

  • on + Day: Used for specific days of the week. Example: on Thursday.

  • in + Month: Used for months of the year when the day is not specified. Example: in November.

  • in + Year: Used for specific calendar years. Example: in 1987.

  • on + Complete Date: Used when specifying the full date ($\text{Month / Day / Year}$). Example: on November 20th, 1987.

• Date Conventions in American English:

  • Order of Components: Formatted and read strictly as Month - Day - Year (Mes - Día - Año).

  • Ordinal Numbers: Calendar days must always be read and spoken using ordinal numbers (e.g., 20th).

  • Capitalization Rule: Days of the week and months of the year are proper nouns and must ALWAYS begin with a capital letter (van siempre en mayúscula).

Rules for Reading Historical and Calendar Years

• Category 1: Years Prior to 2000 (Antes del 2000):

  • Read split into two separate pairs of two-digit numbers ($XX\text{ }XX$):

  • $1987 = \text{nineteen eighty-seven}$

  • $1999 = \text{nineteen ninety-nine}$

  • $1500 = \text{fifteen hundred}$

• Category 2: Years from 2000 to 2009 (Del 2000 al 2009):

  • Read as a single, unbroken cardinal number (se lee una sola cifra):

  • $2005 = \text{two thousand five}$

  • $2006 = \text{two thousand six}$

  • $2008 = \text{two thousand eight}$

• Category 3: Years from 2010 Onwards (Posterior al 2010):

  • Read split once again into two pairs of two-digit figures ($XX\text{ }XX$):

  • $2010 = \text{twenty ten}$

  • $2012 = \text{twenty twelve}$

  • $2026 = \text{twenty twenty-six}$

Future Plans with "Going To"

• Affirmative Construction:

  • Grammatical blueprint: $S + V_{be} + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C$.

  • Illustrative sentences:

  • "I'm going to pass Book 3 next week"

  • "She's going to go to Los Juanes tomorrow"

• Negative Construction:

  • Grammatical blueprint: $S + V_{be} + \text{not} + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C$.

  • Illustrative sentences:

  • "We aren't going to support bad behavior today"

  • "Little Yen isn't going to buy dinner tonight"

Interrogative Structures and Information Questions with "Going To"

• Confirmation (Yes/No) Interrogatives:

  • Structural Inversion:     $S + V_{be} + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C \longrightarrow V_{be} + S + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Response Patterns:

  • (+) Yes, + S + V_{be}. + [Context sentence]

  • (-) No, + S + V_{be} + not. + [Context sentence]

  • Function of the Context Sentence: The subsequent context sentence serves to clarify the situation or provide vital supplementary detail (la oración de contexto es para dar más información o aclarar la situación).

  • Sample Questions:

  • "Are you going to pass Book 3 next week?"

  • "Is she going to go to Los Juanes tomorrow?"

  • "Aren't we going to support bad behavior?"

• Information (Wh-) Interrogatives:

  • Standard Pattern:     $\text{Wh-word} + V_{be} + S + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Interrogative markers: What, When, Where, What time, How far (inquiries regarding distance), How fast (inquiries regarding speed).

  • Pattern with Specific Object / Attribute:     $\text{Wh-word} + \text{object} + V_{be} + S + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Modifiers include: How much, How many (+ object), Whose (+ object), What kind of (+ object).

  • Subject Questions with "Who":     $\text{Who} + V_{be} + \text{going to} + V_{base} + C + ?$

  • Answering Criteria: The precise form of the response always depends upon the exact content and temporal details demanded by the inquiry.

Question Tags Across Verb Tenses

• Structural Formulations by Tense:

  • Present Simple: $V_{be} \text{ / } (\text{do / does}) \text{ (+ not)} + S + ?$

  • Present Continuous: $V_{be} \text{ (+ not)} + S + ?$

  • Past Simple: $V_{be} \text{ / did (+ not)} + S + ?$

  • Future Plan (Going To): $V_{be} \text{ (+ not)} + S + ?$

Spatial Prepositions, Movement, and the Zero Preposition Rule

• Semantic Matrix of Place and Movement Prepositions:

  • in: Indicates containment within an interior space (dentro de).

  • on: Indicates position resting upon a physical surface (sobre / encima de).

  • at: Indicates presence around a specific point, site, or institutional landmark (alrededor de / en un punto específico).

  • to: Indicates vector direction, motion, or destination toward a place (dirección / hacia).

  • from: Indicates geographical origin, source, or departure (procedencia / origen / desde).

• The Zero Preposition Rule ($\emptyset$):

  • Certain spatial and directional nouns do not permit a preposition (no requieren preposición):

  • Destination home: "She's going home now" (incorrect: going to home).

  • Location downtown: "We live downtown" (incorrect: live in downtown).

• Contextual Sentence Examples:

  • "I lived in Barcelona many years ago"

  • "Her phone is on the teacher's table"

  • "His cousin's friends are studying at Fondo UC right now"

  • "They are going to go to Mora's beach house"

  • "It's a long trip from my house to…"