Past Habitual or iteractive
When we use "would" to describe past habitual actions, we are indicating that something happened repeatedly or regularly in the past. "Would" is a modal auxiliary verb, which means that it is used to modify the tense or meaning of the main verb in the sentence. In this case, "would" is used to indicate that the main verb is in the past tense and that the action being described was habitual.
For example, consider the sentence "When I was a child, I would always eat cereal for breakfast." In this sentence, "would" is modifying the main verb "eat" to indicate that this action happened repeatedly in the past. The sentence is in the past tense because it describes something that happened in the past, and "would" indicates that the action was habitual or customary.
Similarly, the sentence "He would always walk to work" uses "would" to describe a habitual action that occurred regularly in the past.
So, "would" is not a tense itself, but rather a modal auxiliary verb that is used to modify the tense and meaning of the main verb in the sentence, indicating that the action being described was a habitual or customary one in the past.
Examples:
- When I was in college, I would often skip breakfast.
- Every summer, my family would go camping in the mountains.
- When I was a kid, I would always play video games after school.
- When it rained, my grandfather would tell us stories to pass the time.
- I would usually take a nap after lunch when I was pregnant.
- When I was younger, I would spend hours playing with my toy trains.
- My mom would make homemade pizza every Friday when I was growing up.
- When I was in high school, I would practice my guitar for hours every day.
- When we were on vacation, we would always wake up early to watch the sunrise.
- When I lived in New York City, I would walk to work every day.
Pasado habitual o iteractivo
Cuando utilizamos "would" para describir acciones habituales en el pasado, estamos indicando que algo ocurrió repetida o regularmente en el pasado. "Would" es un verbo auxiliar modal, lo que significa que se utiliza para modificar el tiempo o el significado del verbo principal de la frase. En este caso, "would" se utiliza para indicar que el verbo principal está en pasado y que la acción descrita era habitual.
Por ejemplo, considere la frase "Cuando era niño, siempre desayunaba cereales". En esta frase, "would" modifica al verbo principal "eat" para indicar que la acción se repitió en el pasado. La frase está en pasado porque describe algo que ocurrió en el pasado, y "would" indica que la acción era habitual o acostumbrada.
Del mismo modo, la frase "Siempre iba andando al trabajo" utiliza "would" para describir una acción habitual que ocurría regularmente en el pasado.
Por lo tanto, "would" no es un tiempo en sí mismo, sino un verbo auxiliar modal que se utiliza para modificar el tiempo y el significado del verbo principal de la frase, indicando que la acción descrita era habitual en el pasado.
Ejemplos:
- Cuando estaba en la universidad, solía saltarme el desayuno.
- Todos los veranos, mi familia se iba de acampada a las montañas.
- Cuando era niño, siempre jugaba a videojuegos después del colegio.
- Cuando llovía, mi abuelo nos contaba cuentos para pasar el rato.
- Cuando estaba embarazada, solía echarme la siesta después de comer.
- Cuando era más pequeña, me pasaba horas jugando con mis trenes de juguete.
- Cuando era pequeña, mi madre hacía pizza casera todos los viernes.
- Cuando estaba en el instituto, practicaba con la guitarra durante horas todos los días.
- Cuando estábamos de vacaciones, siempre nos levantábamos temprano para ver el amanecer.
- Cuando vivía en Nueva York, caminaba al trabajo todos los días.