Past Simple and Past Continuous
This page covers the prétérit anglais (Past Simple) and Past Continuous tenses, essential for narrating past events in English.
Past Simple (Preterit Simple)
The Past Simple is used for completed actions in the past.
Example: She watched TV.
Structure: Base verb + -ed (for regular verbs)
Highlight: Irregular verbs have unique past forms that must be memorized, making the prétérit anglais challenging for learners.
Negative and interrogative forms use "did":
- Negative: She didn't watch TV.
- Interrogative: Did she watch TV?
Quote: "The Past Simple is often called the 'storytelling tense' as it's used to narrate sequences of past events."
Past Continuous (Preterit Be + -ing)
The Past Continuous expresses ongoing actions in the past or actions interrupted by another event.
Example: She was watching TV.
Structure: WAS/WERE + base verb + -ing
Negative and interrogative forms:
- Negative: She was not watching TV.
- Interrogative: Was she watching TV?
- Interro-negative: Wasn't she watching TV?
Vocabulary: The term "continuous" is sometimes replaced with "progressive" in some grammar texts, but they refer to the same concept.
The page concludes with an introduction to perfect tenses, bridging to more complex forme verbale anglais structures.
Definition: Perfect tenses express completed actions or states in relation to another time, adding depth to the English tense system.