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SMarko Posted 8 years ago
Grammar

Simple Past Tense with a FOR a duration of time phrase

This is an example of simple past usage I stumbled upon on https://youtu.be/0Ri3QTT41f8?t=20m24s:

"Sarah and David talked for two hours"

It is not clear to me why present perfect or past continuous are not used here instead of past simple or can all of these tenses be used correctly? "For two hours" specifies a duration of time and "for" is also a signal word used in present perfect tense and past continuous tense. I thought past simple is used for finished actions, but in this example, the action was in progress. So why is this sentence correct in simple past tense?

  

Top answer

The past simple tense is actually quite commonly used with phrases like "for two hours". SMarko I thought past simple is used for finished actions This is a finished action. It's just that the action took two hours.

— CalifJim

  • The past simple tense is actually quite commonly used with phrases like "for two hours".
  • SMarko I thought past simple is used for finished actions This is a finished action.
  • It's just that the action took two hours.
  • SMarko "for" is also a signal word used in present perfect tense and past continuous tense.
  • That often happens for the present perfect continuous of non-stative verbs, yes, but not so much for the past continuous.
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2 Answers
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The past simple tense is actually quite commonly used with phrases like "for two hours".

SMarkoI thought past simple is used for finished actions

This is a finished action. It's just that the action took two hours.

SMarko"for" is also a signal word used in present perfect tense and past continuous tense.

Tha

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Here are some examples I found online.

He went right to bed after the game and slept for 10 hours.
We talked for hours about life.
He slept for 14 hours after we arrived.
I lived in Stokenchurch for 18 years.
He waited for a response for 14 months.
For months he came and went as he pleased.
I did ceramics for years.

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