past continuous tense

[alex90]

Hello,

I want to ask about 'past continuous tense'.

1) I was studying English all night long yesterday. It is correct.

It is going to be correct if we use adverb of time like 'yesterday, 2 years ago'...etc. But If we don't use this adverb time, is it going to be correct?

For example,

2) I was studying English all night long.

3)I was waiting for you all day.
Are they correct?

Can we use 'all...long, whole day, all day,...etc' with past continuous tense?
Thank you

 

[BobK]

Yes. But no. 3 may not mean what you want it to mean ;-)

If you've been waiting for someone all day, and then they arrive, you say 'I've been waiting for you all day'

At some time in the future (maybe years later) you're talking about a failed meeting, you say 'Do you remember that time we were supposed to meet up at Knightsbridge tube, just past the ticket barrier? I was waiting for you all day, but you were waiting at another entrance of the same station.

Alternatively, if the meeting did happen, you could say 'Do you remember that time we were supposed to meet up at Knightsbridge tube, just past the ticket barrier? I had been waiting for you all day, and you didn't turn up until I was about to leave.'

b

 

[alex90]

If we talk about the past which is fixed, we can use 'I was waiting for you all day'.

For example,

A:What did you do yesterday?
B:I was waiting for a friend from university all day. But, he didnt come.

Is that right?
And can we answer like that?

A:What did you do yesterday?
B:I had been waiting for a friend from university all day. But, he didnt come.

Thank you