Le past continuous

1. a)He was serving a customer (when he heard the noise). (1)
2. b)Action longue : was calling (past continuous) ; action courte : disappeared (prétérit). (1)
3. c)False: “The van didn't stop at the traffic lights.” (1)
4. d)One of the boys was wearing a red jacket. (1)

Repère — dans un témoignage, les descriptions (was driving, were running, was wearing) sont au past continuous et les faits (heard, looked, didn't stop) au prétérit.

1. a)I was reading (1)
2. b)The twins weren't listening (1)
3. c)Was it snowing…? (1)
4. d)sitting, dying, writing (1)

Le point clé — l'auxiliaire porte tout : négation (wasn't / weren't), question (inversion) et réponse courte ; le verbe reste en -ing.

1. a)My phone rang while I was having a shower. (1)
2. b)While Mum was driving, Dad was reading the map. (1)
3. c)We were building a sandcastle when a big wave destroyed it. (1)
4. d)I didn't see the bus because I was looking at my phone. (1)

Erreur fréquente — mettre les deux verbes au même temps : l'action qui interrompt (rang, destroyed, didn't see) est courte et reste au prétérit.

1. a)He was sleeping when I arrived. (1)
2. b)I heard a noise in the garden. (verbe de perception, pas de forme continue) (1)
3. c)What were you doing at midnight? (1)
4. d)She wasn't crying, she was laughing. (1)

Attention — hear, see, know, want, like : ces verbes d'état ou de perception se conjuguent au prétérit simple, même pour une action en cours.

1. a)Ex. : Last Sunday, I was fishing on the pier and my friend Sami was eating a sandwich. (1)
2. b)Ex. : Suddenly, a seagull stole his sandwich! (1)
3. c)Ex. : I laughed so much that I dropped my fishing rod in the water. (1)
4. d)Ex. : While Sami was shouting at the seagull, I was trying to catch the rod. (1)

Astuce — un bon récit alterne : past continuous pour installer la scène, prétérit pour les événements, et while pour montrer deux actions en même temps.