Conjugaison
Forme affirmative
Structure :
Sujet + was / were + verbe + -ing
Français
JOUER | Anglais
TO PLAY |
| Je jouais | I was playing |
| Tu jouais | You were playing |
| Il/Elle jouait | He/She/It was playing |
| Nous jouions | We were playing |
| Vous jouiez | You were playing |
| Ils/elles jouaient | They were playing |
Exemples :
I
was reading a book.
(je lisais un livre)
You
were watching TV.
(tu regardais la télévision)
She
was sleeping.
(elle dormait)
Forme négative
Structure :
Sujet + was not / were not + -ing
Français
| Anglais
|
| Forme développée | | Forme contractée |
| Je ne lisais pas | I was not reading | | I wasn't reading |
| Tu ne lisais pas | you were not reading | | you weren't reading |
| Il/ elle ne lisait pas | he/she was not reading | | he/she wasn't reading |
| Nous ne lisions pas | we were not reading | | we weren't reading |
| Vous ne lisiez pas | you were not reading | | you weren't reading |
| Ils/elles ne lisaient pas | they were not reading | | they weren't reading |
Exemples :
I was not playing.
(je ne jouais pas)
You weren't eating.
(tu ne mangeais pas)
Forme interrogative
Structure :
Was / Were + sujet + verbe -ing ?
Français
dormir | | Anglais
to sleep |
| Est-ce que je dormais ? | | Was I sleeping ? |
| Dormais-tu ? | | Were you sleeping ? |
| Dormait-il/Dormait-elle ? | | Was he/she/it sleeping ? |
| Dormions-nous ? | | Were we sleeping? |
| Dormiez-vous ? | | Were you sleeping ? |
| Dormaient-ils/Dormaient-elles ? | | Were they sleeping? |
Exemples :
Were you hearing me ?
(Est-ce que tu m'entendais ?)
Was it raining ?
(Est-ce qu'il pleuvait ?)
Utilisation avec when
Très souvent, on utilise le past continuous avec when.
Structure fréquente :
past continuous + when + prétérit
Exemples :
I was walking when it started to rain. (Je marchais quand il a commencé à pleuvoir.)
They were watching TV when the phone rang. (Ils regardaient la télé quand le téléphone a sonné.)
• L’action longue = be + -ing
• L’action courte = prétérit
Autre utilisation : deux actions en cours
Quand deux actions se passent en même temps.
Structure fréquente :
past continuous + while + past continuous
Exemples :
She was listening to music while I was studying. (Elle écoutait de la musique pendant que j'étudiais.)
They were talking while the teacher was writing. (Ils discutaient pendant que le professeur écrivait.)
