It rained / was raining for eight hours. (The past simple / The past continuous)

[Michaelll]

Hello everyone! My name is Mikhail, I am a student. I have a question and I would like to ask you. I know that if an action is still going on, we use the perfect continuous (with action verbs), but what if the same action is already stopped/ceased/finished? I know about the option of using the past perfect conitnuous, but as I know, I need to provide another point in the past which is not what I want to do, because I just want to say about what happened in the past as a fact. I don't understand which tense to choose with periods of time in the past the past simple or the past continuous?

It's been raining heavily for eight hours.
--->
It rained heavily for eight hours.
It was raining heavily for eight hours.
(on my birthday)

We've been playing tennis for two hours.
--->
We played tennis for two hours.
We were playing tennis for two hours.
(yesterday)

He's been learning French for ten years.
--->
He learnt French for ten years.
He was learning French for ten years.
(my grandfather in his life, when he was alive)

She's been speaking for forty minutes.
--->
She spoke for forty minutes.
She was speaking for forty minutes.
(when I last met her)

 

[Michaelll]

Hello, is anybody here?

 

[Tarheel]

What exactly is the question?

 

[Tarheel]

"It's been raining heavily for eight hours."

It's still raining.

"It rained heavily for eight hours."

It rained for eight hours and then stopped.

"It was raining heavily for eight hours."

I'm not sure what you want to say.

 

[Michaelll]

I know that if an action is still going on, we use the perfect continuous (with action verbs), but what if the same action is already stopped/ceased/finished? I know about the option of using the past perfect conitnuous, but as I know, I need to provide another point in the past which is not what I want to do, because I just want to say about what happened in the past as a fact. I don't understand which tense to choose with periods of time in the past the past simple or the past continuous?

It's been raining heavily for eight hours.
--->
It rained heavily for eight hours.
It was raining heavily for eight hours.
(on my birthday)

We've been playing tennis for two hours.
--->
We played tennis for two hours.
We were playing tennis for two hours.
(yesterday)

He's been learning French for ten years.
--->
He learnt French for ten years.
He was learning French for ten years.
(my grandfather in his life, when he was alive)

She's been speaking for forty minutes.
--->
She spoke for forty minutes.
She was speaking for forty minutes.
(when I last met her)

 

[Tarheel]

"We've been playing tennis for two hours."

You are still playing tennis.

"We played tennis for two hours."

You're finished playing tennis.

"We were playing tennis for two hours."

And then what happened?

If you want to talk about something that happened (whatever that was) then simple past is the default option.

 

[jutfrank]

It will be useful if you can make up a clear context for what you want to say, and then we can advise you on which is the best tense to use and why it's the best one.

 

[Michaelll]

I know that if an action is still going on, we use the perfect continuous (with action verbs), but what if the same action is already stopped/ceased/finished? I know about the option of using the past perfect conitnuous, but as I know, I need to provide another point in the past which is not what I want to do, because I just want to say about what happened in the past as a fact. I don't understand which tense to choose with periods of time in the past the past simple or the past continuous?

It will be useful if you can make up a clear context for what you want to say, and then we can advise you on which is the best tense to use and why it's the best one.

Sorry, I'd love to but my grammar books where I take my examples from have none of it.
The context, probably is: I want to tell my friend what happened in the past, and for how long that action lasted.

1. Yesterday, <it rained> <was raining> for two hours.
2. They <built> <were building> their house for five years.
3. That day, I <played> <was playing> tennis with my friends for two hours.
4. and so on

 

[emsr2d2]

The context, probably is: I want to tell my friend what happened in the past, and for how long that action lasted.

1. Yesterday, <it rained> <was raining> for two hours.
2. They <built> <was building> their house for five years.
3. That day, I <played> <was playing> tennis with my friends for two hours.

1. Both are possible.
2. Both are wrong. The past simple doesn't work because "They built" is a single finished action. It can't last for five years. The other choice is wrong because "They was building" is incorrect. "They were building ..." is possible.
3. Both are possible.

 

[jutfrank]

I just want to say about what happened in the past as a fact.

Yesterday it rained for two hours.

This is the simplest way to express a simple, isolated statement of fact. If that's all you want to do, there's no need for any aspect.

 

[Tarheel]

*Yesterday, it rained for two hours.*

As already indicated, you can stop right there if you want to.

*Yesterday, it was raining for two hours.*

I don't know what situation you want to use that one in. However, if I want to tell somebody how my day went I might say, "I went to the store. It was raining. It had been raining for two hours."

2. We might say, "It took five years to build the house."

 

[Michaelll]

Yesterday it rained for two hours.

This is the simplest way to express a simple, isolated statement of fact. If that's all you want to do, there's no need for any aspect.

*Yesterday, it was raining for two hours.*

I don't know what situation you want to use that one in.

Yes, this is what I wanted to know. My teacher taught us that in English we only express duration in the continuous aspect. But I doubted her words, because I often bump into such sentences as, "We waited for her for 20 minutes" or "It rained all day". The problem is if anybody uses this sentence "It rained all day" in the class, my teacher considers it a mistake, significantly lowers the score and corrects it to "It was raining all day".

Is it perfectly correct to use the past simple in English with duration with action verbs?

The past simple doesn't work because "They built" is a single finished action. It can't last for five years.
"They were building ..." is possible.

Is the past simple incorrect here? Is it incorrect to say "yesterday I read some books for 2 hours", should I say "yesterday I was reading some books for 2 hours"? May you please explain me why?

 

[jutfrank]

I often bump into such sentences as, "We waited for her for 20 minutes" or "It rained all day".

Right. Those sentences are perfectly correct in the right context.

The problem is if anybody uses this sentence "It rained all day" in the class, my teacher considers it a mistake, significantly lowers the score and corrects it to "It was raining all day".

Your teacher may or may not have a good reason for this correction. It depends on meaning and context.

Is it perfectly correct to use the past simple in English with duration with action verbs?

It can be, yes.

You must understand that some verbs, by virtue of their meaning, cannot be used to express a durative action. Here's an obvious example:

*I finished my homework for two hours.

There's nothing wrong with the grammar here, but the sentence doesn't make sense because finishing is not something that can last over time.

 

[Michaelll]

Your teacher may or may not have a good reason for this correction. It depends on meaning and context.

I wish it were true. But I don't think so because there was a test where there were sentences and we had to choose between the past simple or continuous. The choice had to be made with the help of "helping words", if we saw regularity (often, rarely, never, etc.) - the past simple, duration (for 2 hours, all day, from .. to ..) - the past continuous.

You must understand that some verbs, by virtue of their meaning, cannot be used to express a durative action. Here's an obvious example:

*I finished my homework for two hours.

There's nothing wrong with the grammar here, but the sentence doesn't make sense because finishing is not something that can last over time.

Thank you! I understand it.
We can't say "She died for two days", but I think it's grammatically correct to say "She was dying for two days" (Her doctor said several times during those two days that "she's dying"), we can't say "I finished my homework for two hours", but I think it's grammatically correct to say "I was finishing my homework for two hours."

I just didn't know that we can use the past simple with duration with other action verbs such as, 'to rain' or 'to play tennis', or 'to walk' etc. Our teachers at schools teach people that only the past/future continuous is possible with duration.

 

[Tarheel]

"She was dying for two days."

No. (The context you gave for that one doesn't make it work.)

"I was finishing my homework for two hours."

No. That doesn't make sense.

"It rained all day" is perfectly natural.

It seems that you discuss grammar quite a bit. In fact, you talk about grammar much more than I do.

 

[Michaelll]

"She was dying for two days."

No. (The context you gave for that one doesn't make it work.)

"I was finishing my homework for two hours."

No. That doesn't make sense.

In my native language we can say those, even though they don't carry much meaning without context.
I think there must be a way to translate them into English. For example, you are an interpreter and you have to translate a politician's speech as specifically as possible, otherwise you will be fired.

By the way, this is a sentence I found in my grammar book, "I'd been finishing some work in the garden when Lea arrived, so I didn't hear her come in".
After this, I can't understand why you say "I was finishing my homework for two hours" doesn't make sense.

 

[emsr2d2]

Our teachers at schools teach people that only the past/future continuous is possible with duration.

Maybe you should take a screenshot of our responses and show them to your teacher. Is she a native English speaker? (I suspect not.)

 

[Michaelll]

Maybe you should take a screenshot of our responses and show them to your teacher.

Yes, this is what I'm going to do. I want her to stop claiming everything incorrect and lowering scores for correct answers. That's why I've been asking you. Thank you!

Is she a native English speaker? (I suspect not.)

No, she's Ukrainian... or Russian. I'm not quite sure.

 

[Tarheel]

@Michaelll If you are finishing something you are doing the last part of it. That person in the garden was putting her tools up or something like that.

Finishing your homework doesn't take two hours.

 

[Michaelll]

@Michaelll If you are finishing something you are doing the last part of it. That person in the garden was putting her tools up or something like that.

Finishing your homework doesn't take two hours.

Yes, you're right. I forgot that native speakers try to be super-precise. I should have said that it is possible to say, for example: "I was finishing my homework for five/ten minutes."

As for "She was dying for <that anomount of time>" do you really think it is incorrect to say that?
In my native language we can say this. I think there must be a way to translate it into English. For example, you are an interpreter and you have to translate a politician's speech as specifically as possible, otherwise you will be fired.