4e

OLIVER TWIST

At the bookshop, the Dodger was silently stealing a customer's handkerchief when suddenly the shopkeeper saw him!

Oliver Twist was just looking at the Dodger. He was totally innocent. However he got scared and he rapidly ran away!!

Oliver was running as fast as possible when someone violently punched him in the face. OUCH!!

Even though Oliver was innocent, a policeman brought the boy to a judge.

The judge was talking when Oliver fainted...

LE PRETERIT BE + ING

Le prétérit  BE ING sert de cadre à l’action du prétérit simple.

On utilise le prétérit ING pour parler d’une action en cours de réalisation à un moment donné dans le passé. On pourra traduire cette action en français avec la structure « en train de »

SUJET + BE au prétérit + V-ING

The Dodger was stealing a hankerchief…

Le Dodger était en train de de voler un mouchoir…

On utilisera alors le prétérit simple pour parler d’un évènement ponctuel, généralement introduit par when.

… When the shopkeeper suddenly saw him.

… quand soudainement le commerçant le vit. 

What was Oliver doing? Then what happened?

Write down a paragraph using the sentences on the right to describe the actions you can see in the pictures. Use preterit simple or preterit BE ING.

1)      Read the text and conjugate the verbs using preterit simple or preterit ING.

Oliver grew up in an orphanage and he worked in a workhouse where the living conditions were terrible. One day the children asked Oliver to protest. They                           all                                                          (eat) in the dining room when he                                           (ask) for more porridge. The director violently hit him and sent him to Mr. Sowerberry, an undertaker. However this new employer mistreated him. So Oliver left to London.

There he met Fagin and his mates and learnt how to steal from rich people. One night Oliver                                                                  (break into) a house when the occupants suddenly                                                      (wake up) and                                                                (fire) at him. The next morning Mr. and Mrs. Maylie, the owners of the house,                                                                                            (take) care of Oliver when he                                                  (tell) them the truth: he was innocent and he knew the criminals. Fortunately Mr. and Mrs. Maylie were good people. They reported everything to the police. The police found Fagin and tried to arrest him but he quickly escaped through a window to reach the roofs. Oliver                                                    (run) on the roofs to escape Fagin when suddenly the police                                                  (catch) the criminal and                                                               (arrest) him. Then Oliver was free and Mr. Brownlow adopted him.

2)      Look at the following sentence: The director violently hit him. “Violently” is an adverb. Can you find 3 other adverbs in the text?