Comment parler de ce qui est en train de se passer?

Comment parler d'habitudes, de goûts, de vérité générale?

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This document is a picture, more exactly a drawing. It represents a block of flats.

The scene takes place in a street. There are twelve characters. There is a man in the

foreground, he is watching the other characters.

On the third floor, through the first window from the left, a man is making his bed,

He makes his bed every morning.

Through the second window from the left, a child is riding a bike/cycling on the

balcony. He does not often cycle on the balcony because it is dangerous. Through the

last window from the left, a woman is having breakfast, she often eats eggs for

breakfast but seldom drinks milk because she prefers tea.

On the second floor, through the first window from the left, a man and a woman are

quarreling/are arguing. They argue twice a month because the man sometimes comes

back late. Through the third window from the left, there is a phone on a desk. It is

not ringing. It never rings because nobody lives in the flat. Through the fourth

window from the left, a man is juggling with plates while he is cooking. He seldom

juggles with plates for he often breaks them.

On the first floor, through the second window from the left, a woman is feeding her

baby while her husband is reading the newspaper. She feeds it six times a day while

her husband never looks after it. Through the third window from the left, a woman is

napping in front of her TV. She sleeps in front of her TV every afternoon. Through

the last window, a man is singing while he is shaving. He hardly ever sings but usually

whistles while he shaves.

Pour parler de ce qui est en train de se passer, on utilise le présent be+ing . Son

auxiliaire est be conjugué au présent, il apparaît à TOUTES LES FORMES.

L'auxiliaire est suivi de la base verbale (= infinitif sans to) à laquelle on ajoute ing.

Rappel

I am

You are

He/she/It is

We are

You are

They are

FORME AFFIRMATIVE

S + Aux be au présent + BVing + Ct

Ex: She is feeding her baby.

They are arguing

FORME NÉGATIVE

S + Aux be au présent + NOT + BVing + Ct

Ex: She is NOT feeding her baby.

They are NOT arguing.

A l'écrit, il vaut mieux utiliser les formes pleines (is not - are not). A l'oral, on peut

utiliser les formes contractées (isn't - aren't)

FORME INTERROGATIVE

(WH-) + AUX BE conjugué au présent + S + BVing + Ct

EX: Is she feeding her baby ?

Yes , she is.

No , she isn't.

Where are they arguing ?

They are arguing on the balcony.

Le présent Be+ing peut aussi avoir une valeur de :

• Commentaire

Ex: He washes his car every Sunday. (Simple énoncé d’habitudes,

de faits)

Ex: He’s washing his car every Sunday.

Le locuteur (= celui qui parle) ajoute un commentaire, en général

négatif. Ici, le locuteur pense que HE pourrait faire autre chose et donc ça l’agace.

• Futur:

Lorsqu’on parle d’un futur assez proche, on peut utiliser BE+ing.

Ex: Mr Mortelette : “I’m not coming this afternoon.”

Pour les verbes monosyllabiques se terminant par Consonne Voyelle Consonne, il faut

doubler la consonne finale avant d'ajouter la terminaison ING afin de conserver la

prononciation originale.

EX: To hop → he is hopping

To chat → he is chatting

To drop → he is dropping

Pour parler de vérité générale, d'habitudes ou de goûts, on utilise le présent simple.

Son auxiliaire est DO, il n'apparaît qu'aux formes négative et interrogative. Il

devient DOES à la 3ème personne du singulier.

FORME AFFIRMATIVE

S + BV + Ct

HE / SHE / IT + BV – s + Ct

- es + Ct

EX: She feeds her baby six times a day .

They often argue .

Pour les verbes se terminant par un /Y/ sonore (on l'entend tout seul), il faut

remplacer le /Y/ par /IE/ avant d'ajouter le /S/ à la 3ème personne du singulier.

FORME NÉGATIVE

S + AUX DO + NOT + BV + Ct

HE / SHE / IT + AUX DOES + NOT + BV + Ct

EX: she does not feed her baby six times a day .

They do not often argue.

A l'écrit, il vaut mieux utiliser les formes pleines (DO NOT – DOES NOT).

Mais à l'oral on peut utiliser les formes contractées (DON'T – DOESN'T).

FORME INTERROGATIVE

(WH-) + AUX DO + S + BV + Ct ?

(WH-) + AUX DOES + HE / SHE / IT + BV + Ct ?

EX: Does she feed her baby six times a day ?

Yes, she does.

No, she doesn't.

Where do they argue ?

They often argue on the balcony.

ATTENTION: Les adverbes de fréquence se placent toujours devant la Base

Verbale. Les adverbes de fréquence sont:

• Always

• Often

• Frequently

• Regularly

• Usually

• Occasionnally

• Sometimes

• Rarely

• Seldom

• Hardly ever

• Never

Tableau récapitulatif des deux présents