PRETERIT BE-ing - Bridget`s English pages.

PRETERIT BE-ing :
CONSTRUCTION :
Forme affirmative :
Forme interrogative :
Forme négative :
Sujet + was / were + BV-ing
Was/ were + sujet + BV- ing?
Sujet + wasn’t / weren’t + BV-ing
¤ As: comme …
¤ While: pendant que ¤
yesterday at this time :
hier à ce moment.
I / he / she / it: was
You / we / they: were.
EMPLOI :
1. Il exprime une action passée qui a servi de cadre à un autre évènement. Il se traduira, toujours en français,
par l'imparfait. C’est le temps de la description, on plante le décor, l’arrière-plan.
Ex : « The telephone rang while she was having a shower."
(Le téléphone sonna pendant qu’elle prenait une douche.)
"She was having a shower" représente le cadre de l'évènement. Elle prenait une douche AVANT et sans
doute APRES le coup de téléphone. Le second évènement "the telephone rang" s'est produit dans ce cadre,
les deux actions ont été superposées, simultanées à un moment donné du passé : quand le téléphone a
sonné. L'emploi du prétérit be-ing" souligne aussi le caractère inachevé d'un évènement.
2. Il sert à décrire une situation provisoire : le sujet était « en train de faire » une action qui reste inachevée
car interrompue par une action importante pour la narration du récit qui sera au prétérit simple.
EX : She was waiting for the bus when she saw the accident.
(Elle attendait le bus lorsqu’elle vit l’accident.)
3. Il sert à décrire une action en déroulement dans le passé.
Ex: What were you doing last night at 9 o' clock? --I was watching TV.
(Que faisais tu hier soir à 21 heures? --Je regardais la télévision.)
SHORT ANSWERS:
On va utiliser l’auxiliaire « was / were » à la forme affirmative avec ”yes” et « wasn’t / weren’t» à la forme
négative avec “no” :
EX: Were you having dinner yesterday at 8.00pm? – Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.
[On choisit entre “was / were” en fonction du nouveau sujet !!!]
Ex : Were they working when you arrived ? – Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t.
EX: Was she doing her homework in the living room at 6.00pm? – Yes, she was. / No, she wasn’t.
REMEMBER: les verbes désignant les croyances, les émotions, la possession, etc… doivent être au prétérit
simple. (Voir la leçon sur le présent be-ing +ainsi que pour les modifications orthographiques.)
EXERCISES :
1. Mets ces phrases à la forme interrogative puis négative :
a. The gardener was mowing the lawn at 10.00 am yesterday.________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
b. The birds were singing in the trees. ___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Conjugue les verbes au prétérit be-ing, écris was / were en rouge et « ing » en vert :
a. While Mum _____________________ (do) the washing up, Dad ________________________________
(watch) television.
b. _____________ Robert _________________________ (read) his newspaper when you arrived?
c. The pupils _________________________________ (copy) the lesson when the headmaster entered.
d. I _____________________________________ (not. listen), can you repeat, please?
e. ___________ you __________________ (work) at this time yesterday?- No, I ___________________.
f.
As the cat _______________________________(sleep), the mice ___________________________ (dance) !
3. Complète avec des “short answers”:
a. Was she working when you left? – No, she ________________
b. Were they tidying their rooms when I phoned? – Yes, they ________________
c. Were you doing the washing up at that time yesterday? – Yes, I _______________
4. What were the teens doing when Brad’s mum arrived at home?
The dogs
Brad
___
______________________________________
Sue
When Brad’s Mum arrived at home, __________________
________________________________________________
Ted
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Peter
________________________________________________
_
5. What were your friends and your family members doing yesterday while you were studying at school?
1. My mother______________________________
_______________________________________
2. My brother _____________________________
_______________________________________
3. _______________________________________
_______________________________________
4. _______________________________________
_______________________________________
5. _______________________________________
_______________________________________
6. _______________________________________
_______________________________________
[play hopscotch : jouer à la marelle.
Play jump rope : jouer à la corde à sauter.]
7. __________________________________________________________________________________________
8. __________________________________________________________________________________________
9. __________________________________________________________________________________________
10. __________________________________________________________________________________________
11. __________________________________________________________________________________________
12. __________________________________________________________________________________________
13. __________________________________________________________________________________________
14. __________________________________________________________________________________________
15. __________________________________________________________________________________________
16. ___________________________________________________________________________________________
6. LET’S SPEAK: A journalist has taken a photo of Spiderman, he is explaining his boss what the super hero and the
other characters were doing in the photo at this moment…
Cycle / run / carry/ sleep / cross / talk /
run after / drive / get out of / fix / yell /
phone / ride / sunbath / hide / lie / show
/ get on / take a photo / …
7. Imagine what the man is saying using
the past…..
8. Conjugue les verbes au prétérit simple ou be-ing :
My dog ______________________ (eat) when he ________________________ (see) the cat. He _________________
(start) running after the poor cat in the whole house ! They _____________________ (bump) into my grandmother
who ___________________________(arrive) in the living room and she _________________________(fall) down and
____________________(break) her knee. As she _________________________(cry) my father___________________
(rush) and ___________________________(help) her to her feet. I _____________________________(do) my
homework when I ______________________________ (hear) her ! What a terrible evening!