Present perfect continuous with “How long”
Situation: You were late for an appointment with a friend for half an hour. You wanted to ask him about how long he had waited for you.
Is there any difference in meaning or nuance between the following two sentences:
(1) How long have you been waiting for me? [present perfect continuous]
(2) How long have you waited for me? [present perfect]
Your friend didn't need to wait for you any longer when you asked this question, so the sentence (2)[present perfect] should be grammatically correct, but (1) seems to be commonly used in English. Could you explain why (1) is also grammatically correct?
perfect-continuous
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Situation: You were late for an appointment with a friend for half an hour. You wanted to ask him about how long he had waited for you.
Is there any difference in meaning or nuance between the following two sentences:
(1) How long have you been waiting for me? [present perfect continuous]
(2) How long have you waited for me? [present perfect]
Your friend didn't need to wait for you any longer when you asked this question, so the sentence (2)[present perfect] should be grammatically correct, but (1) seems to be commonly used in English. Could you explain why (1) is also grammatically correct?
perfect-continuous
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
(1) is the normal, idiomatic expression for when someone has been doing something for a period of time up to the present moment. (2) is grammatical but not idiomatic in these circumstances.
– Kate Bunting
2 hours ago
add a comment |
Situation: You were late for an appointment with a friend for half an hour. You wanted to ask him about how long he had waited for you.
Is there any difference in meaning or nuance between the following two sentences:
(1) How long have you been waiting for me? [present perfect continuous]
(2) How long have you waited for me? [present perfect]
Your friend didn't need to wait for you any longer when you asked this question, so the sentence (2)[present perfect] should be grammatically correct, but (1) seems to be commonly used in English. Could you explain why (1) is also grammatically correct?
perfect-continuous
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Situation: You were late for an appointment with a friend for half an hour. You wanted to ask him about how long he had waited for you.
Is there any difference in meaning or nuance between the following two sentences:
(1) How long have you been waiting for me? [present perfect continuous]
(2) How long have you waited for me? [present perfect]
Your friend didn't need to wait for you any longer when you asked this question, so the sentence (2)[present perfect] should be grammatically correct, but (1) seems to be commonly used in English. Could you explain why (1) is also grammatically correct?
perfect-continuous
perfect-continuous
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
asked 14 hours ago
Geo
1
1
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Geo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
(1) is the normal, idiomatic expression for when someone has been doing something for a period of time up to the present moment. (2) is grammatical but not idiomatic in these circumstances.
– Kate Bunting
2 hours ago
add a comment |
(1) is the normal, idiomatic expression for when someone has been doing something for a period of time up to the present moment. (2) is grammatical but not idiomatic in these circumstances.
– Kate Bunting
2 hours ago
(1) is the normal, idiomatic expression for when someone has been doing something for a period of time up to the present moment. (2) is grammatical but not idiomatic in these circumstances.
– Kate Bunting
2 hours ago
(1) is the normal, idiomatic expression for when someone has been doing something for a period of time up to the present moment. (2) is grammatical but not idiomatic in these circumstances.
– Kate Bunting
2 hours ago
add a comment |
active
oldest
votes
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Geo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f478543%2fpresent-perfect-continuous-with-how-long%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Geo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Geo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Geo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Geo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.
Please pay close attention to the following guidance:
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f478543%2fpresent-perfect-continuous-with-how-long%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
(1) is the normal, idiomatic expression for when someone has been doing something for a period of time up to the present moment. (2) is grammatical but not idiomatic in these circumstances.
– Kate Bunting
2 hours ago