Still ongoing action?

T. M.C1Kwiziq community member

Still ongoing action?

I am confused that "have been waiting" is wrong, and "had been waiting" is correct.Based on this lesson, In Spanish we can use the verb llevar followed by a gerund (Gerundio) in order to express the duration of a still-ongoing action:
Llevábamos esperando el tren mucho tiempo." means:I couldn't wait for the train for a long time.We had to wait for the train for a long time.✔️We had been waiting for the train for a long time.✖️ We have been waiting for the train for a long time.
Asked 3 years ago
InmaNative Spanish expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hola Terri

Both tenses are expressing an ongoing action, but we use llevar in the present for ongoing actions now and llevar in El Imperfecto for ongoing actions in the past:

1. Llevo esperando el autobús una hora.

I have been waiting for the bus for an hour.

2. Llevaba esperando el autobús una hora.

I had been waiting for the bus for an hour.

The tense used indicates if it is ongoing now or was ongoing then, but they are both ongoing actions.

I'll check the lesson to see it needs a bit more clarification. 

Saludos

Inma

T. M. asked:

Still ongoing action?

I am confused that "have been waiting" is wrong, and "had been waiting" is correct.Based on this lesson, In Spanish we can use the verb llevar followed by a gerund (Gerundio) in order to express the duration of a still-ongoing action:
Llevábamos esperando el tren mucho tiempo." means:I couldn't wait for the train for a long time.We had to wait for the train for a long time.✔️We had been waiting for the train for a long time.✖️ We have been waiting for the train for a long time.

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