Past continuous

Le past continuous décrit une action en cours à un moment du passé, souvent comme arrière-plan d’une action plus courte. Forme : was / were + verbe-ing (j’étais en train de…).

Emplois

• Un moment du passé : At 8 pm I was watching TV.
• Action interrompue : when + past simple, while + past continuous.
• Deux actions simultanées : She was reading while he was cooking.

Exemples

• What were you doing at 10 o’clock?Qu’est-ce que tu faisais à dix heures ?
• I was sleeping when you called.Je dormais quand tu as appelé.
• The sun was shining and children were playing.Le soleil brillait et les enfants jouaient.
• She cut her finger while she was cooking.Elle s’est coupé le doigt en cuisinant.
• He was driving too fast when the police stopped him.Il roulait trop vite quand la police l’a arrêté.

Erreurs courantes

• ✗ When I was a child, I was playing football every day.✓ When I was a child, I played football every day.L’imparfait français jouais ne se traduit pas toujours par le past continuous ; pour une habitude passée on emploie le past simple.
• ✗ When she arrived, we had dinner. (we were in the middle of dinner)✓ When she arrived, we were having dinner.Une action en cours au moment où une autre arrive demande le past continuous et non le past simple.
• ✗ I was watch TV.✓ I was watching TV.Après was ou were le verbe doit avoir la terminaison -ing.
• ✗ He was watching TV when I come.✓ He was watching TV when I came.L’action courte qui interrompt est au past simple : when I came.
• ✗ What you were doing at ten?✓ What were you doing at ten?Dans une question l’auxiliaire was ou were se place avant le sujet.