SEMAINE 9 – JOUR 1 Past Continuous – Grammaire + Listening
SEMAINE 9 · JOUR 1 · NIVEAU B1-B2
Past Continuous
Actions in Progress in the Past
👋 Introduction
Jusqu'ici tu sais parler :
- Au présent
- Au passé simple
Cette semaine tu apprends à raconter une histoire.
Le Past Continuous, c'est la structure des narrateurs, des leaders, des storytellers.
Le cours d'aujourd'hui va te prendre au moins 45 minutes en tout, et pourrait aller jusqu'à 60 minutes selon ta capacité et rapidité de compréhension. Si tu n'as pas trop de temps, passe directement au cours du jour et fais l'exercice d'application.
💡 Daily Idiom — Once upon a time
Sens en français : il était une fois (formule d'ouverture de conte, parle aussi d'un passé lointain).
✔️ Once upon a time, people didn't have phones.
✔️ She started the story with "once upon a time".
🔤 Daily Phrasal Verb — Carry on
Sens en français : continuer.
✔️ She carried on working while the phone was ringing.
✔️ Please carry on with your story.
🔗 Daily Collocation — Set the scene
Sens en français : planter le décor.
✔️ The Past Continuous helps you set the scene of a story.
✔️ He set the scene by describing the weather.
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📄 Transcript
Regarde entièrement la vidéo du cours du jour.
1. What is the Past Continuous?
The Past Continuous describes an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past. It shows that the action had started but had not yet finished at that time.
Affirmative : Subject + was/were + verb-ing
Negative : Subject + was/were not (wasn't/weren't) + verb-ing
Question : Was/Were + subject + verb-ing + ?
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|---|
| I / He / She / It | was working | wasn't working | Was he working? |
| You / We / They | were studying | weren't studying | Were they studying? |
2. How It Works — The Timeline
was/were + -ing ←———— ⚡ interruption ———— action in progress
I was sleeping when my phone rang. — Je dormais quand mon téléphone a sonné.
💡 Key image : le Past Continuous est une action de fond (la longue ligne bleue) déjà en cours quand une action plus courte et achevée (le point rouge) survient soudainement.
3. Five Key Uses of the Past Continuous
① Action in progress at a specific past time
At + time / At that moment + Subject + was/were + -ing
At 8pm yesterday, Aminata was studying for her English exam. — Hier à 20h, Aminata étudiait pour son examen d'anglais.
This time last week, we were travelling to Abidjan by bus.
② Interrupted action — Past Continuous + when + Past Simple
Subject + was/were + -ing (action longue) + when + subject + Past Simple (interruption courte)
Konan was cooking dinner when the electricity went out.
I was walking to school when it started to rain heavily.
She was taking a shower when someone knocked on the door.
③ Two parallel actions in progress — while
Subject + was/were + -ing while + subject + was/were + -ing
Adjoua was listening to music while her brother was doing his homework.
While Kouamé was playing football, his sister was preparing the meal.
④ Setting the scene in a story
Utilisé au début d'une histoire pour décrire la situation de fond.
It was raining heavily. The streets were flooding and people were running for shelter.
The market was buzzing with activity when the announcement came.
⑤ Expressing irritation — always + Past Continuous
Subject + was/were always + -ing → exprime l'agacement face à un comportement répété
He was always arriving late to class. It was very annoying.
She was always interrupting people when they were speaking.
4. WHEN vs WHILE — The Key Difference
| Connector | Use | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| WHEN | Short interrupting action | when + Past Simple | …when the phone rang. |
| WHILE | Two long parallel actions | while + Past Continuous | while she was sleeping… |
I was reading when he called. (reading = long, called = short)
While I was reading, she was cooking. (both long, simultaneous)
5. Past Simple vs Past Continuous
| Past Simple | Past Continuous | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Completed action | Action in progress |
| Duration | Short, finished | Long, ongoing |
| Signal words | yesterday, ago, last… | at that moment, while, when |
| Example | She cooked dinner. | She was cooking dinner. |
6. Spelling Rules for -ING
| Rule | Base verb | -ing form |
|---|---|---|
| Most verbs → add -ing | work, play, read | working, playing, reading |
| End in -e → drop -e, add -ing | make, write, come | making, writing, coming |
| Short vowel + consonant → double | run, sit, swim | running, sitting, swimming |
| End in -ie → change to -y + ing | lie, die, tie | lying, dying, tying |
7. Stative Verbs — Never Used in Continuous Forms
Certains verbes décrivent un état, pas une action. Ils ne sont JAMAIS utilisés en forme continue — même au Past Continuous.
Verbes statifs courants : know · believe · understand · love · hate · want · need · prefer · seem · appear · belong · contain · consist · depend · remember
⚠️ Never : ✘ I was knowing the answer. → ✔ I knew the answer. ✘ She was wanting to leave. → ✔ She wanted to leave.
8. Real-Life Dialogue — What were you doing when it happened?
A: Where were you when the power cut happened yesterday evening?
B: I was studying for my English exam. The lights went out while I was writing my notes.
A: Oh no! And what about Aminata?
B: She was cooking dinner when it happened. Konan was watching football at the same time.
A: At least everyone was safe! While you were all dealing with the cut, I was sleeping — I had no idea!
9. Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌ She was cook when I arrived. → ✅ She was cooking when I arrived. (Past Continuous = was/were + verb-ING, jamais le verbe seul.)
❌ They was playing football. → ✅ They were playing football. ('They' → WERE, seuls I/he/she/it utilisent WAS.)
❌ While I walked to school, it rained. → ✅ While I was walking to school, it rained. (WHILE + Past Continuous pour l'action longue.)
❌ I was knowing the answer all along. → ✅ I knew the answer all along. (know est un verbe statif.)
🎓 Coach Assoa vous conseille
Le Past Continuous, c'est simple si vous visualisez deux images : ① une action longue (le fond) → was/were + -ing ② une action courte (l'interruption) → Past Simple. Entraînez-vous à raconter votre soirée d'hier : "At 8pm, I was eating dinner. While I was watching TV, my mother called me." C'est la meilleure façon d'intégrer naturellement ce temps !
Test your knowledge of was/were + -ing · when · while · stative verbs
❓ 12 questions
⏱️ 15 minutes
✅ Correction immédiate après chaque réponse
📊 Score par catégorie à la fin
QUESTION 1 / 12 — Form
🏁 Results
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