FRASES CONDICIONALES /CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

FRASES CONDICIONALES

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Estas frases se utilizan para indicar una condición.

Algo tiene que suceder para que otra acción se realice.

Se utiliza la conjunción IF (si). También podemos encontrar WHETHER (si)

Varía según el tiempo verbal.

Pueden ser de:

Tipo 0

Tipo 1

Tipo 2

Tipo 3

CONDICIONAL DE TIPO CERO

Se utilizan para describir verdades universales. Algo que siempre ocurre si la condición se cumple.

La estructura es:

IF + SUJETO + VERBO EN PRESENTE SIMPLE + SUJETO + VERBO EN PRESENTE SIMPLE

If you heat water to 100ºC it bloils.

(Si calientas agua a 100º esta hierve.)

CONDICIONAL DE TIPO UNO

Se utiliza para describir acciones que son muy probables que sucedan.

IF + SUJETO + VERBO EN PRESENTE SIMPLE + SUJETO + VERBO EN

 FUTURO SIMPLE

If you practise a lot you will play the piano well

(Si practicas mucho tocarás bien el piano)

CONDITIONAL DE TIPO DOS

Se utiliza para describir acciones que quisiéramos que ocurrieran pero que hay pocas posibilidades que sucedan.

Estructura

IF + SUJETO + VERBO EN PASADO SIMPLE + SUJETO + VERBO EN

 CONDICIONAL SIMPLE

If I won the lottery I would buy a new house

(Si ganara la lotería me compraría una casa nueva)

CONDICIONAL DE TIPO TRES

Se utiliza para describir acciones que no podemos cambiar.

ESTRUCTURA

IF + SUJETO + VERBO EN PASADO PERFECTO + SUJETO + VERBO

 EN CONDICIONAL PERFECTO

If I had been Napoleón I wouldn´t have gone to Waterloo

(Si hubiera sido Napoleón yo no hubiera ido a Waterloo)

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS

ADJETIVOS TERMINADOS EN "ING" O "ED"

ADJETIVOS TERMINADOS EN "ING" O "ED"

¿Sabes la diferencia entre los adjetivos terminados en ED o en ING.

Se utilizan para expresar sentimientos.

Hay adjetivos que tienen las dos terminaciones, -ed y -ing, por ejemplo bored y boring, que tienen significados diferentes y que por tanto, conviene conocer su diferencia:

– I am bored

Cuando digo “bored”, acabado en -ed, es la persona que está aburrida.

– The film was boring

Aquí, sin embargo, boring, con -ing, se refiere a “the film”, que no es una persona, sino una cosa.

Por tanto, podemos afirmar que -ed para personas y -ing para cosas o situaciones. Es cierto que a veces también utilizamos -ing para personas.

Debes tener en cuenta que la terminación -ing indica una cualidad permanente, mientras que -ed es temporal. Si yo digo: I’m a boring person significa que soy una persona aburrida, lo soy siempre, es permanente, por eso, ing. Pero si digo I’m bored indica que estoy aburrido, es temporal, es sólo ahora.

Un truco, para que os resulte más fácil, si lo traducimos por “estar”, necesitamos -ed, y si lo traducimos por “ser”, entonces -ing. Hagamos la prueba:

– I am bored

Yo estoy aburrido

– The film was boring

La película fue aburrida

Otro ejemplo:

– My friend is bored

Mi amigo/a está aburrido/a.

– My friend is boring

Mi amigo/a es aburrido/a.

OBESITY IN THE USA

OBESITY IN THE USA

Adapted from www.nytimes.com

Last Tuesday federal health authorities reported a 43 percent drop in the obesity rate among 2- to 5-year-old children over the past decade. The drop emerged from a major federal health survey that experts say is the gold standard for evidence on what Americans weigh. The trend came as a welcome surprise to researchers. New evidence has shown that obesity takes hold young: children who are overweight or obese at 3 to 5 years old are five times as likely to be overweight or obese as adults. This is the first broad decline in an epidemic that often leads to lifelong struggles with weight and higher risks for cancer, heart disease and stroke. A smattering of states have reported modest progress in reducing childhood obesity in recent years, and last year the federal authorities noted a slight decline in the obesity rate among lowincome children. But the figures on Tuesday showed a sharp fall in obesity rates among all 2- to 5- year-olds, offering the first clear evidence that America’s youngest children have turned a corner in the obesity epidemic. There was little consensus on why the decline might be happening, but many theories. Children now consume fewer calories from sugary beverages than they did in 1999. More women are breast-feeding, which can lead to a healthier range of weight gain for young children. Federal researchers have also chronicled a drop in overall calories for children in the past decade, down by 7 percent for boys and 4 percent for girls, but health experts said those declines were too small to make much difference. Barry M. Popkin, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has tracked American food purchases in a large data project, said families with children had been buying lowercalorie foods over the past decade, a pattern he said was unrelated to the economic downturn. He credited those habits, and changes in the federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, for the decline in obesity among young children. The program, which subsidizes food for low-income women, reduced funding for fruit juices, cheese and eggs and increased it for whole fruits and vegetables. Another possible explanation is that some combination of state, local and federal policies aimed at reducing obesity is starting to make a difference. Michelle Obama, the first lady, has led a push to change young children’s eating and exercise habits and 10,000 child care centers across the country have signed on. The news announcement from the C.D.C. included a remark from Mrs. Obama: “I am thrilled at the progress we’ve made over the last few years in obesity rates among our youngest Americans.

PRACTISE CONVERSATION

PRACTISE CONVERSATION