Le prétérit exprime une rupture par rapport au présent.
I. Le prétérit simple
1) Conjugaison
Conjugaison d’un verbe régulier : live (vivre)
affirmation | interrogation | négation |
I lived you lived he / she / it lived we lived you lived they lived | did I live? did you live? did he / she / it live? did we live? did you live? did they live? | I did not (didn't) live you did not (didn't) live he / she / it did not (didn't) live we did not (didn't) live you did not (didn't) live they did not (didn't) live |
Conjugaison d’un verbe irrégulier : see (voir)
affirmation | interrogation | négation |
I saw you saw he / she / it saw we saw you saw they saw | did I see? did you see? did he / she / it see? did we see? did you see? did they see? | I did not (didn't) see you did not (didn't) see he / she / it did not (didn't) see we did not (didn't) see you did not (didn't) see they did not (didn't) see |
2) Emplois
Le prétérit simple exprime une action passée et datée.
- She left yesterday.
Elle est partie hier.
- He got married in 2003.
Il s’est marié en 2003.
- We arrived a week ago.
Nous sommes arrivés il y a une semaine.
Il exprime une action terminée en opposition avec le présent.
- She lived with Jane. (She no longer lives with her.)
Elle habitait avec Jane. (Elle n’habite plus avec elle.)
Il exprime une habitude dans le passé. Il peut alors être remplacé par used to.
- When I was younger I danced (I used to dance) all night.
Quand j’étais plus jeune, je dansais toute la nuit.
Il permet de parler de circonstances qui n’existent pas dans la réalité.
- If I had time, I would travel more.
Si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais davantage.
Il peut exprimer un regret, une insatisfaction.
- I wish I lived in London. J’aimerais vivre à Londres.
Note bienAgo se traduit par « il y a » + une indication temporelle. Il est toujours utilisé avec un prétérit.She left ten minutes ago.Elle est partie il y a dix minutes.
II. Le prétérit en be + V-ing
affirmation | interrogation | négation |
I was living you were living he/she/it was living we were living you were living they were living | was I living? were you living? was he/she/it living? were we living? were you living? were they living? | I was not (wasn't) living you were not (weren't) living he/she/it was not (wasn't) living we were not (weren't) living you were not (weren't) living they were not (weren't) living |
Le prétérit en be + V-ing décrit une action en cours dans le passé.
- At 6, they were already jogging in the park.
À 6 heures, ils étaient déjà en train de faire du jogging dans le parc.
Il sert à parler d’une action en opposition avec le prétérit simple. Le prétérit en be + V-ing exprime l’action en cours le prétérit simple exprime un fait nouveau qui se produit.
- I was washing the dishes when the phone rang.
Je faisais la vaisselle quand le téléphone sonna.