Karamö, le prof virtuelLeçon 3 sur 19
Past simple & past progressive
Je sais raconter des événements passés en choisissant correctement entre le past simple (faits terminés) et le past progressive (actions en cours, décor), et en les combinant avec when et while.
- 50 min
- 6 exercices corrigés
- 1 schéma
- QCM de 5 questions
À la fin de la leçon, tu sauras :
- Former le past simple des verbes réguliers et irréguliers à toutes les formes
- Former le past progressive
- Distinguer l'action ponctuelle terminée de l'action en cours dans le passé
- Combiner les deux temps avec when, while et as dans un récit
- Utiliser used to pour les habitudes passées
Avant de commencer : La carte des temps anglais ; les verbes irréguliers les plus courants ; le present progressive.
1Je découvre
Pendant la récréation, au lycée de Labé, Mariama raconte à ses camarades ce qui lui est arrivé la veille. Elle essaie de le dire en anglais pour s'entraîner :
*« Yesterday evening, I was walking home from school. The sun was setting over the hills and a cold wind was blowing. Suddenly, a big dog jumped out of a garden and ran towards me. I dropped my bag and climbed onto a wall! »*
Son amie Fatoumata remarque : « Dans ton histoire, il y a deux sortes de verbes au passé : was walking, was setting, was blowing d'un côté, jumped, ran, dropped, climbed de l'autre. Pourquoi ? »
Mariama a compris instinctivement la différence : les premiers verbes installent le décor, ce qui était en train de se passer ; les seconds racontent les événements qui se succèdent et font avancer l'histoire. C'est exactement l'opposition entre l'imparfait et le passé simple (ou passé composé) en français.
Comment former le past simple et le past progressive, et comment les combiner pour raconter une histoire ?
2Je comprends
1. Le past simple : forme
Verbes réguliers : base + -ed à toutes les personnes : I worked, she worked, they worked.
Règles d'orthographe :
- verbe terminé par -e : on ajoute seulement -d : live → lived, arrive → arrived ;
- consonne + y → -ied : study → studied, carry → carried ; mais voyelle + y : play → played ;
- verbe court terminé par consonne + voyelle + consonne (syllabe accentuée) : on double la consonne : stop → stopped, plan → planned, prefer → preferred.
Prononciation de -ed : /t/ après un son sourd (worked, washed), /d/ après un son sonore (played, lived), /ɪd/ après t ou d (wanted, needed).
Verbes irréguliers : forme propre à apprendre : go → went, see → saw, buy → bought, take → took, begin → began, run → ran, leave → left.
| Forme | Construction | Exemple |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | sujet + prétérit | They went to Kankan. |
| Négative | sujet + didn't + base | They didn't go to Kankan. |
| Interrogative | Did + sujet + base ? | Did they go to Kankan? |
Le verbe be : *I/he/she/it was, you/we/they were* ; négation wasn't, weren't ; question Was he…? Were they…? (pas de did avec be).
2. Le past simple : emplois
Le past simple exprime une action terminée, située à un moment précis du passé, coupée du présent.
- action ponctuelle datée : Guinea became independent on 2 October 1958.
- succession d'actions dans un récit : She opened the door, looked outside and called her brother.
- habitude passée : When I was a child, I went to the river every day.
- situation passée terminée : My grandfather lived in Dalaba for forty years. (il n'y vit plus ou il est décédé)
Marqueurs : *yesterday, last week / month / year, ago, in 2010, when I was young, that day, then*.
3. Le past progressive : forme et emplois
Forme : was / were + verbe en -ing.
| Forme | Exemple |
|---|---|
| Affirmative | I was reading. They were playing. |
| Négative | I wasn't reading. They weren't playing. |
| Interrogative | Was I reading? Were they playing? |
Emplois :
- action en cours à un moment précis du passé : At 9 p.m. yesterday, I was watching the news.
- décor, arrière-plan d'un récit : It was raining and people were running to find shelter.
- action en cours interrompue par une autre (au past simple) : I was sleeping when the phone rang.
- deux actions simultanées qui durent : While my mother was cooking, my father was repairing the radio.
Comme au présent, les verbes d'état (know, want, like, believe, belong…) ne se mettent pas au progressif : I knew the answer, et non ~~I was knowing~~.
4. Combiner les deux temps : when, while, as
- Action longue, en cours
- Décor de l'histoire
- I was walking home…
- While they were eating…
- At 8 p.m. she was studying.
- Action courte, ponctuelle
- Événements qui font avancer l'histoire
- …when a dog jumped out.
- …the lights went out.
- At 8 p.m. she went to bed.
- *when* introduit souvent l'action courte qui interrompt : *We were having dinner when the guests arrived.*
- *while* (ou *as*) introduit l'action longue en cours : *While I was crossing the street, I saw an accident.*
- deux past simple avec when = succession : When the guests arrived, we had dinner. (d'abord ils arrivent, ensuite on dîne) — le sens change !
5. Used to : l'habitude révolue
used to + base exprime une habitude ou un état du passé qui n'existe plus : I used to live in Boffa, but now I live in Coyah. There used to be a big tree here.
Négation : I didn't use to… ; question : Did you use to…? (sans d).
Méthode
Pour raconter un événement passé :
- Je plante le décor au past progressive (temps qu'il faisait, ce que les gens faisaient).
- Je raconte chaque événement au past simple, dans l'ordre chronologique.
- Pour une action interrompue : action longue au past progressive + when + action courte au past simple.
- Pour deux actions longues simultanées : while + past progressive dans les deux propositions.
- Je vérifie les prétérits irréguliers et j'utilise did + base dans les questions et négations.
Exemple
Put the verbs in the past simple or the past progressive.
« Last Saturday, Sékou (drive) to Mamou. It (rain) heavily. Suddenly, a goat (cross) the road, so he (stop) the car. »
Last Saturday, Sékou drove to Mamou. (événement, verbe irrégulier drive → drove)
It was raining heavily. (décor)
Suddenly, a goat crossed the road, (action courte : suddenly)
so he stopped the car. (événement ; stop → stopped : consonne doublée)
Exemple
Explain the difference.
a) « When the teacher came in, the students were talking. »
Les élèves parlaient déjà avant l'arrivée du professeur (action en cours, interrompue).
b) « When the teacher came in, the students stood up. »
Les élèves se sont levés après l'arrivée du professeur (deux actions successives).
c) « Ask a question about the time: "I was sleeping at 11 p.m." »
Question : What were you doing at 11 p.m.? — I was sleeping.
3Je retiens
Je retiens
Past simple : verbe en -ed ou prétérit irrégulier ; didn't + base ; Did + sujet + base ?
Emploi : action terminée, datée, coupée du présent ; succession d'événements. Marqueurs : yesterday, ago, last…, in 2010.
Past progressive : was / were + V-ing. Emploi : action en cours à un moment passé, décor, action interrompue.
Action longue (past progressive) + when + action courte (past simple).
While + past progressive : deux actions longues simultanées.
Used to + base : habitude passée qui n'existe plus.
Orthographe : lived, studied, stopped, played ; prononciation /t/, /d/, /ɪd/.
4Erreurs fréquentes
- Garder le prétérit après did : « Did you see? », pas « Did you saw? » ; « He didn't go », pas « He didn't went ».
- Utiliser did avec be : « Were you tired? », pas « Did you were tired? ».
- Mettre les deux verbes au progressif dans une interruption : « I was reading when she called », pas « when she was calling ».
- Confondre used to (habitude passée) et be used to (être habitué) : « I used to swim » = je nageais autrefois.
5Je m’exerce
1Exercice 1
Give the past simple of these verbs.
a) live b) stop c) carry d) enjoy e) buy f) think g) leave h) teach
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) lived b) stopped (consonne doublée) c) carried (y → ied) d) enjoyed (voyelle + y) e) bought f) thought g) left h) taught
2Exercice 2
Put the verbs in the past progressive.
a) At 7 a.m. yesterday, my father (listen) to the radio.
b) The children (not / sleep) when I arrived.
c) What (you / do) at 10 last night?
d) While Alpha (study), his sisters (prepare) dinner.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) My father was listening to the radio.
b) The children weren't sleeping when I arrived.
c) What were you doing at 10 last night?
d) While Alpha was studying, his sisters were preparing dinner.
3Exercice 3
Past simple or past progressive? Complete the story.
*It (be) a hot afternoon in Kankan. Ousmane (sit) under a mango tree and he (read) a book. Suddenly, he (hear) a loud noise. A truck (lose) its load of bricks in the street. Ousmane (run) to help the driver.*
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
*It was a hot afternoon in Kankan. Ousmane was sitting under a mango tree and he was reading a book. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise. A truck had lost / lost its load of bricks in the street. Ousmane ran to help the driver.*
(Le décor est au past progressive ; les événements introduits par suddenly sont au past simple. Lost au past simple est accepté ; le past perfect had lost, que tu verras bientôt, est encore plus précis.)
4Exercice 4
Join the sentences with when or while.
a) I was washing the clothes. It started to rain.
b) Kadiatou was cooking. Her husband was cleaning the yard.
c) The teacher entered the classroom. The students stood up.
d) We were driving to Dubréka. We saw an accident.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) I was washing the clothes when it started to rain.
b) While Kadiatou was cooking, her husband was cleaning the yard.
c) When the teacher entered the classroom, the students stood up.
d) While we were driving to Dubréka, we saw an accident. (ou : We were driving to Dubréka when we saw an accident.)
5Exercice 5
Rewrite using used to.
a) My grandmother lived in a village, but now she lives in Conakry.
b) Aïssatou didn't like fish when she was a child.
c) There was a cinema in our town, but it closed.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
a) My grandmother used to live in a village.
b) Aïssatou didn't use to like fish when she was a child.
c) There used to be a cinema in our town.
6Exercice 6
(Type BAC, writing) Write a short story (about 80 words) beginning with: "Last year, during the rainy season, I was travelling to Nzérékoré by bush taxi when…" Use at least three verbs in the past progressive and five in the past simple.
Voir le corrigéCacher le corrigé
Example answer:
*Last year, during the rainy season, I was travelling to Nzérékoré by bush taxi when the car suddenly stopped. It was raining hard and the road was very muddy. The wheels were turning but the car didn't move. The driver asked all the passengers to get out. We pushed the car together for twenty minutes. Finally it started again, and everybody laughed. We arrived late, wet and tired, but happy.*
Past progressive: was travelling, was raining, were turning. Past simple: stopped, didn't move, asked, pushed, started, laughed, arrived.
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.
Crée ton compte élève gratuit pour cocher les leçons terminées, suivre ta progression et gagner des points au QCM.
