Karamö, le prof virtuelLeçon 2 sur 20
Simple past and past continuous (prétérit et passé continu)
Je sais raconter un événement passé en choisissant entre le simple past et le past continuous, à toutes les formes.
- 45 min
- 6 exercices corrigés
- 1 schéma
- QCM de 5 questions
À la fin de la leçon, tu sauras :
- Former le simple past des verbes réguliers et des principaux verbes irréguliers
- Former le past continuous à toutes les formes
- Distinguer une action terminée d'une action qui était en cours dans le passé
- Relier deux actions passées avec when et while
Avant de commencer : Le present simple et le present continuous (leçon 1), la conjugaison de be au passé (was, were) et les verbes irréguliers vus en 9e.
1Je découvre
Ousmane rentre de Kindia en taxi-brousse. Le lendemain, en classe d'anglais, le professeur lui demande de raconter son voyage. Il écrit :
*« Yesterday, I travelled to Kindia. We were driving on the road when a tyre burst. The driver changed it quickly and we arrived at 6 p.m. »*
Sa voisine Aïssatou lui demande : « Pourquoi tu as écrit we were driving et pas we drove ? C'est pourtant passé aussi ! »
Ousmane explique : « Nous étions en train de rouler : c'est le décor, l'action qui durait. Le pneu a éclaté à un moment précis : c'est l'événement qui a interrompu le trajet. » En français, on distingue souvent l'imparfait (« nous roulions ») du passé composé (« le pneu a éclaté »). L'anglais fait une différence du même genre avec deux temps.
Au BEPC, les textes à compléter et les récits demandent presque toujours de bien choisir entre ces deux temps.
Comment former le simple past et le past continuous, et quand employer l'un ou l'autre ?
2Je comprends
1. Le simple past : forme
Verbes réguliers : on ajoute -ed à la base, à toutes les personnes : I worked, she worked, they worked.
Règles d'orthographe du -ed :
- verbe terminé par -e : on ajoute seulement -d : live → lived, arrive → arrived ;
- consonne + -y devient -ied : study → studied, carry → carried ; mais voyelle + y : play → played ;
- verbe d'une syllabe terminé par consonne + voyelle + consonne : on double la consonne : stop → stopped, plan → planned ;
- travel → travelled en anglais britannique (traveled en anglais américain).
Verbes irréguliers : leur forme au passé s'apprend par cœur. Voici les plus utiles :
| Base | Simple past | Sens |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | aller |
| come | came | venir |
| see | saw | voir |
| buy | bought | acheter |
| eat | ate | manger |
| take | took | prendre |
| give | gave | donner |
| write | wrote | écrire |
| get | got | obtenir, devenir |
| make | made | faire, fabriquer |
| have | had | avoir |
| leave | left | partir, quitter |
Le verbe be a deux formes : I / he / she / it was ; you / we / they were.
Négation et question : on utilise l'auxiliaire did à toutes les personnes, suivi de la base verbale.
| Forme | Construction | Exemple |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | sujet + V-ed ou forme irrégulière | Mamadou bought rice. |
| Négative | sujet + didn't + base | Mamadou didn't buy rice. |
| Interrogative | Did + sujet + base ? | Did Mamadou buy rice? |
| Réponse courte | Yes, he did. / No, he didn't. |
Après did et didn't, le verbe est à la base : Did you see him? et jamais ~~Did you saw him?~~
2. Le simple past : emplois
On emploie le simple past pour une action terminée, à un moment précis du passé (souvent indiqué) :
- Guinea became independent on 2 October 1958.
- I visited my grandmother last Sunday.
- une suite d'actions dans un récit : He opened the door, looked around and went out.
Marqueurs : yesterday, last week, last year, two days ago, in 2020, when I was a child.
3. Le past continuous : forme
On le forme avec was / were + verbe en -ing.
| Forme | Construction | Exemple |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | sujet + was / were + V-ing | They were playing football. |
| Négative | sujet + wasn't / weren't + V-ing | They weren't playing football. |
| Interrogative | Was / Were + sujet + V-ing ? | Were they playing football? |
| Réponse courte | Yes, they were. / No, they weren't. |
L'orthographe du -ing est la même qu'au present continuous : write → writing, swim → swimming.
4. Le past continuous : emplois
On l'emploie pour :
- une action en cours à un moment précis du passé : At 8 p.m. yesterday, I was doing my homework.
- le décor d'un récit, l'action de fond : It was raining and the wind was blowing.
- une action interrompue par une autre (au simple past) : I was sleeping when the phone rang.
- deux actions simultanées qui duraient : While my mother was cooking, my father was reading.
5. When et while
- when (quand) introduit en général l'action courte, au simple past : We were eating when the lights went out.
- while (pendant que) introduit en général l'action longue, au past continuous : While we were eating, the lights went out.
- Action terminée, courte
- Événement qui interrompt
- yesterday, ago, last week
- The phone rang.
- He didn't come.
- Action qui durait
- Décor, action de fond
- at 8 p.m., while, all morning
- I was sleeping.
- He wasn't sleeping.
Méthode
Pour choisir le bon temps du passé :
- Je repère le moment : l'action est-elle passée ? Oui, donc simple past ou past continuous.
- Je me demande : action terminée, courte, ou suite d'actions ? alors simple past.
- Action en cours à un moment précis, décor, action longue interrompue ? alors past continuous (was/were + V-ing).
- Je regarde les mots-liens : après while, souvent past continuous ; après when, souvent simple past.
- Je conjugue : forme irrégulière apprise par cœur, did/didn't + base, was avec I/he/she/it et were avec you/we/they.
Exemple
Complete: Kadiatou (walk) to the market when she (meet) her teacher.
La marche durait : c'est l'action de fond, au past continuous. Sujet Kadiatou (she) → was walking.
La rencontre est un événement court qui se produit pendant la marche : simple past. Meet est irrégulier → met.
Answer: Kadiatou was walking to the market when she met her teacher.
Exemple
Make the sentence negative and ask a question: « Alpha went to Labé last week. »
Went est le passé de go. À la négation, on met didn't + base : Alpha didn't go to Labé last week.
À la question, Did + sujet + base : Did Alpha go to Labé last week? — Yes, he did.
Avec une question ouverte : Where did Alpha go last week? — He went to Labé.
Exemple
Complete: While Fatoumata (sweep) the yard, her brothers (fetch) water.
Deux actions longues qui se déroulent en même temps : past continuous pour les deux.
Answer: While Fatoumata was sweeping the yard, her brothers were fetching water.
3Je retiens
Je retiens
Simple past : verbe + -ed (réguliers) ou forme irrégulière (go → went, see → saw, buy → bought) ; négation didn't + base ; question Did + sujet + base.
Be au passé : I/he/she/it was ; you/we/they were.
Simple past = action terminée à un moment précis, suite d'actions. Marqueurs : yesterday, last…, …ago, in 2020.
Past continuous = was/were + V-ing : action en cours à un moment du passé, décor, action interrompue.
when + action courte (simple past) ; while + action longue (past continuous).
Orthographe : lived, studied, stopped ; writing, swimming.
4Erreurs fréquentes
- Garder la forme du passé après did : on écrit « Did you see him? », pas « Did you saw him? ».
- Ajouter -ed à un verbe irrégulier : « I went », pas « I goed » ; « She bought », pas « She buyed ».
- Confondre was et were : « They were tired » et « He was tired », jamais « They was ».
- Oublier was/were au past continuous : « I was reading », pas « I reading ».
5Je m’exerce
1Exercice 1
Put the verbs in brackets in the simple past.
a) Last Saturday, we (visit) our uncle in Boké.
b) Hawa (study) until midnight.
c) The bus (stop) in Mamou for twenty minutes.
d) I (see) a big snake in the field.
e) They (not / go) to school yesterday.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) Last Saturday, we visited our uncle in Boké.
b) Hawa studied until midnight. (consonne + y → ied)
c) The bus stopped in Mamou for twenty minutes. (on double le p)
d) I saw a big snake in the field. (see → saw, irrégulier)
e) They didn't go to school yesterday.
2Exercice 2
Put the verbs in brackets in the past continuous.
a) At 7 a.m. yesterday, my father (listen) to the radio.
b) The children (swim) in the river when it started to rain.
c) We (not / sleep) at midnight; we (watch) the match.
d) What (you / do) at 9 o'clock last night?
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) At 7 a.m. yesterday, my father was listening to the radio.
b) The children were swimming in the river when it started to rain.
c) We weren't sleeping at midnight; we were watching the match.
d) What were you doing at 9 o'clock last night?
3Exercice 3
Choose the correct form.
a) I (read / was reading) a book when the lights (went / were going) out.
b) While Sékou (cooked / was cooking), his sister (was setting / set) the table.
c) Guinea (became / was becoming) independent in 1958.
d) When the teacher (came / was coming) in, the pupils (talked / were talking).
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) I was reading a book when the lights went out. (action longue interrompue par une action courte)
b) While Sékou was cooking, his sister was setting the table. (deux actions simultanées)
c) Guinea became independent in 1958. (événement daté et terminé)
d) When the teacher came in, the pupils were talking. (l'arrivée interrompt les bavardages)
4Exercice 4
Find and correct the mistake in each sentence.
a) Did she bought a new dress?
b) They was playing in the yard.
c) I goed to the market yesterday.
d) He didn't came to the party.
e) While I walked home, I was seeing an accident.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) Did she buy a new dress?
b) They were playing in the yard.
c) I went to the market yesterday.
d) He didn't come to the party.
e) While I was walking home, I saw an accident. (action longue, puis événement court)
5Exercice 5
Write questions for the answers. The underlined words are in capital letters.
a) Ibrahima arrived AT 10 P.M.
b) She was cooking RICE when I called her.
c) They went to Kankan BY BUS.
d) Yes, I did. (you / finish / your homework?)
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) What time / When did Ibrahima arrive?
b) What was she cooking when you called her?
c) How did they go to Kankan?
d) Did you finish your homework?
6Exercice 6
(Type BEPC, reading and writing) Read the text and answer the questions.
*Last year, during the rainy season, Mariama and her cousin Lansana travelled from Conakry to Faranah. They left early in the morning. At noon, they were crossing a small bridge when the car broke down. It was raining heavily. A farmer who was working in his field saw them and helped them. They arrived in Faranah late at night, tired but happy.*
a) Where did Mariama and Lansana travel to?
b) When did they leave?
c) What were they doing when the car broke down?
d) What was the weather like?
e) Find two verbs in the simple past and two verbs in the past continuous in the text.
f) Write four sentences about a journey you made. Use at least one past continuous and one « when ».
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) They travelled to Faranah.
b) They left early in the morning.
c) They were crossing a small bridge.
d) It was raining heavily.
e) Simple past: travelled, left, broke down, saw, helped, arrived (two are enough). Past continuous: were crossing, was raining, was working (two are enough).
f) Example answer: *Last December, I went to Labé with my father. We were travelling by bus. When we arrived in Mamou, the bus stopped for lunch. I was very happy to see my grandparents.*
Cherche d’abord seul, sur ton cahier, puis ouvre le corrigé pour comparer.
6Je vérifie
Choisis une réponse pour chaque question : la correction s’affiche aussitôt.
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Toutes les leçons de Anglais · 10e
Leçon ajoutée par Kharandi pour compléter le programme de la classe.
