they were catching
-attrapaient
Past progressive they conjugation of catch.
And they were catching up indeed.
Et, en effet, elle les rattrapa.
On the beach we visited in Maine, we saw some children with buckets, and when we asked them what they were doing, they said they were catching steamers.
Sur la plage que nous avons visitée dans le Maine, nous avons vu des enfants avec des seaux et, lorsque nous leur avons demandé ce qu'ils faisaient, ils nous ont dit qu'ils ramassaient des palourdes de Nouvelle-Angleterre.
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