Question

1. "I had been waiting for 2 hours when she came."

2. "I was waiting for 2 hours when she came."

Does the first sentence mean 'He wasn't waiting the moment when she came', but waited for 2 hours before?

Do we use past perfect over past simple if the first past event was going on for a while like in the following sentence which has a long period '2hours'?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

vkr6078Does the first sentence mean 'He wasn't waiting the moment when she came', but waited for 2 hours before?

It means that his long wait ended the moment she arrived.
If she hadn't arrived at that moment, his waiting would have continued.
Her arrival ended his waiting.

Vkr6078 · Answer

Thank you very much.

Do we use past perfect over past simple if the first past event was going on for a while like in the following sentence which has a long period of 2 hours?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

vkr6078Do we use past perfect over past simple if the first past event was going on for a while like in the following sentence which has a long period of 2 hours?

The important point is the use of the continuous tenses to indicate the aspect of duration of an action that is interrupted by something that happens at a point in time. We have already discussed the past perfect continuous. Here are some other tenses and examples:

I was taking a shower when he called. So I missed the phone call. (Past)
I will be travelling to China the day of the World Cup. I will miss the game. (Future)
Everyone remembers what they are doing when some horrible event happens. (Present)

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