Past Continuous

• We use the past continuous to talk about actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past. We form it with was or were and the verb with -ing.
• Subject
• Auxiliary
• Verb-ing
• Example
• I / He / She / It
• was
• working
• I was working at Massachusetts General Hospital.
• You / We / They
• were
• sleeping
• They were sleeping when the alarm rang.
• Remember
• Use was with I, he, she, and it.
• Use were with you, we, and they.
• Add -ing to the main verb.
• Examples
• Doctor Miller was checking a patient in Boston.
• The nurses were running down the corridor.
• Was the generator working during the storm?
• Common mistakes
• She were writing the chart.
• She was writing the chart.

Complete the sentences

• At midnight, the doctor (work) ____ in the emergency room in Chicago.
• The nurses (sleep) ____ when the power went out in New York.
• What (you / do) ____ when the alarm rang in Seattle?
• The surgeon (operate) ____ while the lights went off in Atlanta.
• We (not check) ____ patients at that exact moment.
• The generator (not run) ____ properly in Philadelphia.

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