[Grammar] She might have been waiting for us.

[NAL123]

Friend: How long have you been chatting to him? (I'm still chatting to him)
a) Me: I must be chatting to him for 20 minutes.
b) Me: I must have been chatting to him for 20 minutes.
Q1): Which is correct?

3) She might have been waiting for us.
Q2): Can sentence (3) have either of the following two interpretations, depending on context?
c) Maybe she was waiting for us.
d) Maybe she has been waiting for us. (and perhaps still waiting)

In other words, do we use modal verbs with perfect progressive aspect?

 

[GoesStation]

Friend: How long have you been chatting [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] with him? (I'm still chatting [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] with him)
a) Me: I must be chatting [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] with him for 20 minutes.:cross:
b) Me: I must have been chatting [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] with him for 20 minutes.:tick:

3) She might have been waiting for us.
Q2): Can sentence (3) have either of the following two interpretations, depending on context?
c) Maybe she was waiting for us.:tick:
d) Maybe she has been waiting for us. (and perhaps still waiting):cross:

See above.

 

[5jj]

a) Me: I must be chatting to him for 20 minutes.
b) Me: I must have been chatting to him for 20 minutes.
Q1): Which is correct?

(b) is correct. Compare your two with non-modal forms:

I am chatting to him for 20 minutes. :cross:
I have been chatting to him for twenty minutes. :tick:

(Crossposted)

 

[Rover_KE]

'...chatting to him' is colloquial in British English.

(cross-posted)

 

[NAL123]

Suppose that John, Mike and I planned to go to the cinema on Sunday. John and I live in the same apartment. Mike lives far away from us.

On Sunday:

Me: John, please hurry up. Mike might have been (=maybe he has been) waiting for us outside the theater. (I called Mike about an hour ago and he said he was about to leave for the movie theater.)

Is this correct? Or do we need "Mike might be waiting"?

 

[GoesStation]

Me: John, please hurry up. Mike might have been (=maybe he has been) waiting for us outside the theater. (I called Mike about an hour ago and he said he was about to leave for the movie theater.)

Is this correct? Or do we need "Mike might be waiting"?

You need the latter because you're talking about a current condition.

 

[Tdol]

Or may be waiting.