English Grammar

[zaghum]

Hi,
I want to ask three quick questions

Q.1) If I worked for whole night yesterday and today I want to tell my friend.Which of the following sentence should I say

1) I have been working for whole night
2) I had been working for whole night


Q.2) Can we use how long with the Past Progressive and Simple Past sentences.For instance1) I was working for whole night
2) I worked for whole night


Q.3) If I am not specifying a time in the past,is it compulsory to use Present Perfect Simple or a matter of choice . For example
1)I worked there.
2)I have worked there.

Can I use both,or only number 2

Thanks

 

[I.M. Knott]

Hi,
I want to ask three quick questions

Q.1) If I worked for whole night yesterday and today I want to tell my friend.Which of the following sentence should I say

1) I have been working for whole night I have been working for the whole night. [Note added word "the"]
2) I had been working for whole night


Q.2) Can we use how long with the Past Progressive and Simple Past sentences.For instance1) I was working for whole night
2) I worked for whole night
Either one of the above is okay but change to "the whole night."

Q.3) If I am not specifying a time in the past,is it compulsory to use Present Perfect Simple or a matter of choice . For example
1)I worked there.
2)I have worked there.


Can I use both,or only number 2
Either one of the above is okay.


Thanks

CORRECT ANSWERS ARE ABOVE IN RED.

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forums, zaghum.

Please note that a better title would have been I have/had been working...

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[zaghum]

Thanks a lot Mr I.M. Knott for your reply,But I have a doubt you said that I have been working for the whole night is the correct tense.Could you please explain this because my concept is that we use have been for the present but in this sentence I am talking about past.

Secondly,could you please tell me which one of the following sentence is accurate..
if i am with my teacher who gave us a group project last month, and I want to tell her that my other members didn't work on that

1) All other members had not been working for that project. I did it alone
2) All other members have not been working for that project. I did it alone

Thanks a lot bro for your help

 

[5jj]

Q.1) If I worked for the whole night yesterday and today I want to tell my friend.spaceWhich of the following sentences should I say:

1) I have been working for whole night
2) I had been working for whole night

Unless you are speaking early in the morning after the night in question, neither is appropriate. You need "I worked/was working". You also need 'for the whole night', though '(all) through the night' or 'all night' are more natural, in my opinion.

Q.2) Can we use how long with the Past Progressive and Simple Past sentences.

Yes

Q.3) If I am not specifying a time in the past,is it compulsory to use Present Perfect Simple or a matter of choice? . For example:
1)I worked there.
2)I have worked there.

#1 is unlikely as a stand-alone sentence.

 

[zaghum]

Thanks a lot bro .I am really convinced by your answers.Could you please explain me the difference between usage of had been vs have been with some instances.

 

[5jj]

I'm 5jj, not bro (or man or dude).

 

[zaghum]

Ok 5jj. Could you please tell me which one of the followings sentence is accurate..
if i am with my teacher who gave us a group project last month, and I want to tell her that my other members didn't work on that

1) All other members had not been working for that project. I did it alone
2) All other members have not been working for that project. I did it alone

 

[Matthew Wai]

http://www.englishtenses.com/english_tenses it is worth your reference too.
Not a teacher.

 

[emsr2d2]

Ok 5jj. Could you please tell me which one of the followings sentence is accurate..
if i am with my teacher who gave us a group project last month, and I want to tell her that my other members didn't work on that

1) All other members had not been working for that project. I did it alone
2) All other members have not been working for that project. I did it alone

"All other members had not been working" is unnatural. It would be better as "None of the other members of the group did any work on that project. I did it alone."

 

[zaghum]

Guys I have two more questions.

Q.1)For example one of my friend comes and give me my lost watch.Which of the followings sentence should I say:

1)From where did you get this
2)From where have you got this

Q.2) One of my friend asks me did you see Xyz(Any guy).

1) I have not seen him after October ...........(it's December now)
2)I had not seen him after October ...........(it's December now)
3)I did not see him after October...........(it's December now)

 

[Rover_KE]

Please ask unrelated questions in separate threads, with a title relevant to each, such as From where did you get this? ​and I have not seen him after October.

 

[5jj]

Guys

Please start a new thread for unrelated questions.

ps. Too late. Rover beat me to it. I'll just add a request not to start your posts with '(Hi) Guys'. Some of our female members may not care to be addressed in this way. Indeed, some of our male members may not. There's no real need for any form of address in forums such as this.