1 / 17

Past Tense

Past Tense. Simple Past. Used to express something that has happened in the past without reference to the present . This is the most common form of the past in English and the general tense of narratives and history .

karenl
Télécharger la présentation

Past Tense

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. PastTense

  2. Simple Past • Used to express somethingthat has happened in the pastwithoutreference to the present. • This is the mostcommonform of the past in English and the generaltense of narratives and history. • Generallyformed by adding an –ed to the word(pass – passed)

  3. PresentPerfect • This tense expresses an action in the pastthatstill has someconnection to the present. • Sometimes in translation, eitherthis or the simple pastmaybe possible depending on the interpretation of the translator. • Ex. I have gone to the grocery store three times thisweek. • This isformedwithto have plus the pastparticiple.

  4. Other Uses of PresentPerfect • Notably, the presentperfectmayalsobeused for actions thatbegan in the past but have not yetfinished. Ex. I have hated oranges since I was a little kid. • It mayalsoindicate an action that has justtaken place. Ex. I have just come from the university.

  5. Past Progressive • The past progressive describes an action in the pastthatwasin the process of taking place. • Ex. Wewerestudying for the exam. • It isformedwithto be plus an –ingverb.

  6. Difficulties of Translation • Thesethreetenses do not alwayscorrespond directly to their French counterparts. • Passé Composé • Imparfait • Passé Simple

  7. Translating the Passé Composé • The passé composéis the closestequivalent to the English simple past. It generally expresses actions thattook place in the past. • However, the passé composé isalso the tensethat best corresponds to the English presentperfect. Thus, one has to use context to determine how to translate thistense.

  8. Examples – Passé Composé • L’année dernière, j’ai acheté un ordinateur. • Last year, I bought a computer. (simple past) • Cette semaine, j’ai mangé trois pommes. • This week, I have eatenthreeapples. (presentperfect) • This is not an absoluterule. Sometimes, other translations are possible.

  9. PresentPerfect in “be + ing” • Sometimes, the passé composé is best translated in a presentperfectusing“to be” + the “ing” form of the verb, in a similar way to how the French present can sometimes represent the English present progressive. • Ex (present): J’étudie toute la journée. • I amstudying all day. • Ex (past): J’ai étudié toute la journée. • I have been studying all day • **As always, thisdepends on the surroundingcontext.

  10. Imparfait • The imparfaitisfrequentlythe equivalent of the English past progressive. • Note that the imparfait is a simple tense, while the past progressive is a compound tense. • Ex. Je dormais quand l’alarme a sonné. • I was sleeping when the alarmsounded.

  11. Imparfait • However, the imparfaitcanalsosometimessimply correspond to the English simple past, especiallywithverbslike“to be” and especially with habitual actions. It can sometimes even correspond to the conditional or the English expression (used to). • Ex. Quand j’habitais en France, je mangeais beaucoup de pain tous les jours. • When I livedin France, I ate a lot of breadeveryday. • WhenI used to live in France, I wouldeat a lot of breadeveryday.

  12. Passé Simple • The French passé simpleisgenerallyonlyseen in formalwriting and isalmostalwaystranslated to the English simple past. • Ex. Il aida les pauvres. • He helped the poor.

  13. Pluperfect or PastPerfect • This expresses somethingthattook place beforesome time alreadyin the pastitself. • Ex. Il avait déjà volé $400 quand la police est arrivée. • He hadalreadystolen $400 when the police arrived. • This translates relativelydirectlybetween French and English, withoccasional exceptions.

  14. PastConditional • This expresses somethingthatmight have happened in the past if some condition had been met. • It also translates relativelydirectlyfromits French equivalent. • Ex. Il serait venu à Rabat si tu l'avais demandé. • He would have come to Rabat if youhadaskedhim.

  15. Overview of PastTense Translation • Passé composé  simple past or presentperfect • Imparfait  past progressive, simple past, conditional, or “used to.” • Passé simple  simple past • Plus-que-parfait  pluperfect/pastperfect • Passé conditionnel pastconditional

  16. Baba Yaga Dans un village de la campagne russe vivait une petite fille qui n’avait plus de maman. Son père se remaria, mais il choisit une méchante femme. Elle détestait la petite fille et la traitait mal. « Comment faire pour me débarrasser de cette enfant ? » songeait la marâtre. Un jour que son mari s’était rendu au marché vendre du blé, elle dit à la petite fille : « Va chez ma soeur, ta gentille tante, et demande-lui une aiguille et du fil pour te coudre une chemise. »

  17. La petite fille mit son joli fichu rouge et partit. En route, elle se dit, comme elle était maligne : « J’irai d’abord demander conseil à ma vraie gentille tante, la soeur de ma vraie maman. » Sa tante la reçut avec bonté. « Tante, dit la petite fille, la nouvelle femme de papa m’a envoyée chez sa soeur lui demander une aiguille et du fil pour me coudre une chemise. Mais d’abord, je suis venue te demander, à toi, un bon conseil. – Tu as eu raison. La soeur de ta marâtre n’est autre que Baba-Yaga, la cruelleogresse !

More Related