[Grammar] How long have you been waiting for?

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lindauuu

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Q3 How long have you been waiting for?
How long have you waited?

Q2 I have been waiting for 2hrs
I have waited for 2hrs

What the differences are between these two?

Q3 I have a question that is it appropriate to apply pp when we see ''for XX years,for 8 months, for 20 min'' ?
 

probus

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"How long have you waited?"

That is less than perfect because it fails to express the continuous character of the waiting.

"How long have you been waiting" is better.
 

lindauuu

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"How long have you waited?"

That is less than perfect because it fails to express the continuous character of the waiting.

"How long have you been waiting" is better.

How about the situation is i have already met my friend, and going to ask her how long did she wait just now,,
so which one is better How long have you been waiting or How long have you waited

but in this situation my friend has already ended waiting me,, so can i use How long have you been waiting in this situation?
 

Raymott

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If your friend has stopped waiting, you say, "How long did you wait [for]?" or "How long were you waiting?" or perhaps even "How long had you been waiting before you decided I wasn't going to turn up?"
Otherwise it's "How long have you been waiting?"
 

Matthew Wai

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is it appropriate to apply pp when we see ''for XX years,for 8 months, for 20 min'' ?
Do you mean you have been with your friend for XX years/8 months/20 minutes?

Not a teacher.
 
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