[Grammar] had been waiting/was waiting

[Kumar Nadimuthu]

Below sentence grammatically correct,If not correct it also please explain

1.Vijay had been waiting 3 hours when I arrived
2.Vijay was waiting 3 hours when I arrived.

Kumar

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Below[/STRIKE] Are the sentences below grammatically correct? If not, please correct [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] them and [STRIKE]also[/STRIKE] please explain your corrections.

1. Vijay had been waiting 3 hours when I arrived.
2. Vijay was waiting 3 hours when I arrived.

[STRIKE]Kumar[/STRIKE] Unnecessary, we know your username.

Sentence 1 is correct if you add "for" before "3 hours". When we are talking about a duration, we say "for + length of time". Sentence 2 is incorrect because the past simple is not correct in the context given.

 

[Barb_D]

As a speaker of AmE, I'm okay with #1 without the "for." (I'm certainly okay WITH it, but I don't find it incorrect without it.)