Unit 6.1
Le passé simple de to be
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Introduction
Le verbe to be est essentiel en grammaire. C’est un auxiliaire et un verbe irrégulier.
Pour exprimer des situations qui se sont produites dans le passé et qui sont à présent terminées, on utilise le verbe au passé.
Form
Le verbe to be fait partie des verbes à forme passée irrégulière.
Forme affirmative
Voici sa structure à la forme affirmative :
Sujet + to be (au passé) + …
| Sujet | To be |
|---|---|
| I | was |
| You | were |
| He | was |
| She | was |
| It | was |
| We | were |
| You | were |
| They | were |
Forme négative
Voici sa structure à la forme négative :
Sujet + to be (au passé) + not + …
- À la forme négative, l’auxiliaire did n’est pas utilisé.
| Sujet | To be + not | Forme contractée |
|---|---|---|
| I | was not | I wasn’t |
| You | were not | You weren’t |
| He | was not | He wasn’t |
| She | was not | She wasn’t |
| It | was not | It wasn’t |
| We | were not | We weren’t |
| You | were not | You weren’t |
| They | were not | They weren’t |
Forme interrogative
Voici sa structure à la forme interrogative :
To be (au passé) + sujet + …?
- À la forme interrogative, l’auxiliaire did n’est pas utilisé.
| To Be | Sujet | Point d’interrogation |
|---|---|---|
| Was | I | …? |
| Were | you | …? |
| Was | he | …? |
| Was | she | …? |
| Was | it | …? |
| Were | we | …? |
| Were | you | …? |
| Were | they | …? |
Example
Forme affirmative
- I was a good football player.
- He was here 2 minutes ago.
- We were at the beach earlier.
Forme négative
- I wasn’t a good football player
- He wasn’t here 2 minutes ago.
- We weren’t at the beach earlier.
Forme interrogative
- Was I a good football player?
- Was he here 2 minutes ago?
- Were you at the beach earlier?
Use
On utilise le passé simple de to be comme lien entre le sujet et le complément ou l’adjectif. Il permet d’apporter des informations sur le sujet dans le passé.
Summary
On utilise le passé simple [past simple] pour exprimer des situations qui se sont produites dans le passé et qui sont à présent terminées. Le verbe to be a une forme irrégulière au passé.
On l’emploie sous différentes formes :
- Affirmatif : On met d’abord le sujet suivi de to be au passé :
I was, you were, he was, she was, it was, we were, you were et they were. - Négatif : On met d’abord le sujet suivi de to be au passé et not :
I was not, you were not, he was not, she was not, it was not, we were not, you were not et they were not. - Interrogatif : On met d’abord to be au passé suivi du sujet (la phrase se termine par un point d’interrogation) :
Was I…?, were you…?, was he…?, was she…?, was it…?, were we…?, were you…? et were they…?.
Par exemple :
— Affirmatif : « There was enough sugar to make the cake. »
— Négatif : « There wasn’t enough sugar to make the cake. »
— Interrogatif : « Was there enough sugar to make the cake? »
Révisons ce contenu dans la section {Form}. Jetons un coup d’œil à la section {Example} pour en voir l’utilisation en contexte.
Exercises
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