'has been waiting' or 'was waiting'

[subhajit123]

'Has been waiting' or 'was waiting': Which one should I use in the following context?

Suppose, my sister promised me she would message me this morning after reaching her home but didn't call me at that time. She called me a few hours later. After getting her message, Can I reply 'I have been/was waiting for your message, are you at home now?'

I admit I have asked this type question before but the rule is very confusing. please help me.

 

[emsr2d2]

'Has been waiting' or 'was waiting': Which one should I use in the following context?

Suppose (no comma here) my sister promised me she would message me this morning after reaching her home but didn't call me at that time. Was she going to message (text/email/Whatsapp etc) you or call you?

She called me a few hours later. [STRIKE]After getting her message[/STRIKE] When I answer the call, can I [STRIKE]reply[/STRIKE] say 'I have been/was waiting for your [STRIKE]message[/STRIKE] call. Are you at home now?' You can use either one in that context.

I admit I have asked this type question before but the rule is very confusing. Please help me.

See my corrections and comments above.

You need to decide whether she was going to call you or message you. If you don't want to be specific at the start, you could say "My sister promised to let me know when she got home this morning". After that, be consistent. If she called you, then it's a telephone conversation. If she messaged you, then it's a text/SMS, Whatsapp, email, Facebook Messenger message or similar.
If she phoned you but it went through to voicemail, you'll have to be specific about that with something like "She called a few hours later and left me a voicemail". Then you'd have to say that you replied to her voicemail with a text (or similar), or that you called her back.

Don't use a capital letter after a comma unless the next word is a proper noun or the word "I".

 

[teechar]

"I have been waiting" (or "I've been waiting") implies you were waiting right up to the time your sister contacted you.
"I was waiting" implies you stopped waiting sometime before she contacted you.

 

[subhajit123]

"I have been waiting" (or "I've been waiting") implies you were waiting right up to the time your sister contacted you.
"I was waiting" implies you stopped waiting sometime before she contacted you.

Can you please tell me which one would you prefer?

 

[GoesStation]

"I have been waiting" (or "I've been waiting") implies you were waiting right up to the time your sister contacted you.
"I was waiting" implies you stopped waiting sometime before she contacted you.

Can you please tell me which one you would [STRIKE]you[/STRIKE] prefer?

Either tense is possible. The speaker would use the tense that was most suitable to the situation.

 

[probus]

What teechar said is correct, so the best choice depends on your personal circumstance. But my own preference is "have been" because I cannot easily imagine why I would stop waiting. Perhaps a domestic accident forced me to go to the hospital for urgent care, but such contingencies seem far-fetched.

 

[teechar]

Or even lost interest, got distracted or fell asleep! ;-)