Pour parler d’une action en cours à un moment précis du passé, utilise was / were + le verbe en -ing. Utilise was avec I, he, she, it ; were avec you, we, they.
was / were + -ing
At 8pm I was watching TV.
She was cooking dinner.
They were playing in the garden.
Not "They was playing in the garden." — say "They were playing in the garden.". Avec they, utilise were, pas was.
Essayez: At 8pm, we ___ dinner. (were having / was having / were have) Réponse: were having — Avec we, utilise were, et ajoute -ing au verbe : were having. « Was having » s’emploie au singulier (I/he/she), et « were have » oublie le -ing.
Orthographe du verbe en -ing
La plupart des verbes prennent simplement -ing (play → playing, watch → watching). Les verbes qui se terminent par -e perdent leur e : drive → driving, have → having, make → making. Les verbes courts comme run et sit doublent leur dernière lettre : run → running, sit → sitting.
She was driving to work. (drive → driving)
We were having lunch. (have → having)
The dog was running in the park. (run → running)
Not "She was driveing to work." — say "She was driving to work.". Supprime le e muet avant -ing : drive → driving, pas driveing.
Essayez: At noon, they were ___ lunch. (have) (having / haveing / haved) Réponse: having — Supprime le e muet avant -ing : have → having. « Haveing » conserve le e par erreur, et « haved » n’existe pas.
Négations et questions
Pour la négation, place not après was/were : wasn't / weren't + -ing. Pour une question, place was / were devant le sujet : Was / Were + sujet + -ing ?
I wasn't sleeping at 10pm.
They weren't listening to me.
Were you waiting for the bus?
Was she working yesterday?
Not "Did you were working?" — say "Were you working?". Pour une question, place were devant le sujet — n’ajoute pas did.
Essayez: It was quiet. The children ___ any noise. (not / make) (weren't making / wasn't making / didn't making) Réponse: weren't making — The children est au pluriel, donc utilise weren't et conserve le -ing : weren't making. « Wasn't » est pour une seule personne, et « didn't making » mélange deux formes de passé.
Essayez: ___ you ___ TV when I called? (Were … watching / Did … watching / Was … watching) Réponse: Were … watching — Avec you, commence la question par Were et conserve le -ing : Were you watching? « Did » ne va pas avec -ing, et « Was » s’emploie avec I/he/she/it.
Une action longue et une action courte
Quand une action courte interrompt une action plus longue, utilise was / were + -ing pour l’action longue, et le past simple pour l’action courte.
I was reading (long) when the phone rang (short).
She was driving when she saw the accident.
They were playing when it started to rain.
Essayez: Amina était en train de préparer le dîner. Ça a pris un moment. Puis, tout à coup, la sonnette a retenti une fois. Quelle phrase convient pour l’action longue déjà en cours ? (She was cooking dinner. / She cooked dinner.) Réponse: She was cooking dinner. — Cuisiner était l’action longue déjà en cours, donc utilise was cooking. « She cooked dinner » sonnerait comme une action terminée, et non comme le décor de fond au moment où la sonnette a retenti.
Essayez: Hiroshi était au beau milieu d’un long trajet en voiture. Puis, en un instant, il a vu un accident devant lui. Quelle phrase convient pour l’action brève et ponctuelle ? (He saw an accident. / He was seeing an accident.) Réponse: He saw an accident. — Apercevoir l’accident s’est fait en un instant, donc utilise le past simple saw. « Was seeing » en ferait une action longue, or c’était soudain.
while accompagne l’action longue
While s’emploie avec l’action longue (was / were + -ing). When s’emploie avec l’action courte (le past simple).
While I was sleeping, the phone rang.
When the phone rang, I was sleeping.
While she was cooking, someone knocked.
Not "While the phone rang, I was sleeping." — say "While I was sleeping, the phone rang.". While accompagne l’action longue (was sleeping), pas l’action courte (rang).
Essayez: Mei lisait depuis un bon moment. Le coup de téléphone a été l’action brève qui l’a interrompue. Quel mot convient devant l’action longue, was reading ? (While she was reading, the phone rang. / When she was reading, the phone rang.) Réponse: While she was reading, the phone rang. — Lire était l’action longue, et while accompagne l’action longue : While she was reading, the phone rang. « When » introduit généralement l’action brève (when the phone rang).
Essayez: While Lars ___ home, it ___ to rain. (was walking … started / walked … was starting / was walking … was starting) Réponse: was walking … started — Rentrer à pied était l’action longue → was walking. La pluie qui commence était le moment bref → started. L’action longue prend was + -ing ; l’action courte prend le past simple.