"I've been expecting you" or "I was expecting you"? | WordReference Forums

"I've been expecting you" or "I was expecting you"?

majlo

majlo

Banned
Union of European Socialist Republics
Polish
Here's the context to the question. Melinda went to a library in order to obtain some information on somebody. However, the librarian said they would close in a minute, but she could go through the documents so the information would be waiting for Melinda the next day. Melinda comes to the library the next day, and the librarian, on seeing her, says:

Here's the question, which option would you go for? Present Perfect Continuous or Past Simple?

Do you notice any difference between the two regarding the context I provided?
 
    • majlo said:
    Here's the context to the question. Melinda went to a library in order to obtain some information on somebody. However, the librarian said they would close in a minute, but she could go through the documents so the information would be waiting for Melinda the next day. Melinda comes to the library the next day, and the librarian, on seeing her, says:

    Here's the question, which option would you go for? Present Perfect Continuous or Past Simple?

    Do you notice any difference between the two regarding the context I provided?
    Click to expand...

    Great context, Majlo. I would definitely go for "I've been expecting you". This denotes active or continuous "expecting" whereas "I was expecting you" sounds like it should be followed up with "two hours ago".
     
    "I've been expecting you" emphasizes that the librarian was really looking forward to seeing her again, whereas "I was expecting you" is used when you want to sound less direct, to distance yourself from what you may be feeling or not, and so it sounds more polite and adequate.
    I wouldn't use the first expression. I would actually freak out if someone told me that!
     
    kuleshov said:
    "I've been expecting you" emphasizes that the librarian was really looking forward to seeing her again, whereas "I was expecting you" is used when you want to sound less direct, to distance yourself from what you may be feeling or not, and so it sounds more polite and adequate.
    I wouldn't use the first expression. I would actually freak out if someone told me that!
    Click to expand...

    "I've been expecting you" emphasizes that the librarian was really looking forward to seeing her again? I beg to differ. There is absolutely nothing in that sentence which invites this interpretation. It simply means that when the librarian arrived at work in the morning, she knew that Melinda was supposed to be coming for the documents that day. Accordingly, the librarian expected to see Melinda walk through the door at any moment. The librarian was in a continuous state of expectation, hence "I have been expecting you".

    "Was" is past tense. As a result, for the librarian to say "I was expecting you" means that she was expecting Melinda in the past. The standalone sentence indicates that she was expecting her but that, at some point in the day, she ceased expecting her. She no longer expected her.
     
    I asked this question because I would go for "have been expecting" too; regarding the above context of course. However, just a moment ago, when I was watching an American TV show I heard a woman say "I was expecting you." Dimcl, if you were in Melinda's shoes, what would you think of the librarian's wording? Would you treat it as some kind of an utter mistake or something?

    I must also add that I don't see any association between Present Perfect Continuous and the attitude of the speaker either.
     
    majlo said:
    However, just a moment ago, when I was watching an American TV show I heard a woman say "I was expecting you."
    Click to expand...

    If you keep your ears open, Majlo, you will hear this said all of the time. There are tens of thousands of native-speakers who really don't know what they're saying in terms of grammar. We've all been sorely tempted, many times, to correct our friends, family, co-workers, etc... if we are brave enough to do so, we are looked at as if we have two heads because they honestly don't know that what they said was incorrect. At least you picked up on it.:thumbsup:
     
    majlo said:
    Here's the question, which option would you go for? Present Perfect Continuous or Past Simple?

    Do you notice any difference between the two regarding the context I provided?
    Click to expand...
    I really don't know, majlo. As I finished reading your post, I was saying to myself "I was expecting you"; then I read Dimcl's post 2 and swung the other way.

    I think my difficulty is that I'm not sure I'd use "expect" in your context. Loob-as-librarian would be more likely, I think, to say "I've been expecting you"/"I was expecting you" when I thought it likely that Melinda would come but there hadn't been any specific arrangement.

    {Loob talks sternly to herself for a moment about being so literal-minded}

    No, I'm sorry, I still can't decide on this one:(. I'll be interested to see other posts.
     
    You know, I based my post on fixed expressions like I was wondering if I could...? Will you be going to the shops? and the like, which are used to avoid sounding too direct.... I only use present perfect continuous when I see physical evidence: Why are your fingers white? I've been writing on the board with chalk, or when I want to emphasize how I feel: in your context: happy, eager, impatient...
     
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    Loob said:
    Loob-as-librarian would be more likely, I think, to say "I've been expecting you"/"I was expecting you" when I thought it likely that Melinda would come but there hadn't been any specific arrangement.
    Click to expand...

    I think that's exactly Majlo's context, though, Loob. There wasn't an appointment or anything. The librarian had simply told Melinda that the documents would be ready for her the next day. She had a reasonable expectation that Melinda would come in for them. Am I missing something in your explanation of your thought processes?
     
    I'm sure the problem lies with me!

    For some reason (I guess I was rationalising in my previous post) I find it extremely difficult to decide what I'd say in these circumstances:eek:
     
    If I were the librarian, I would say one of these:

    I've got the documents you asked for yesterday.
    Here are the documents you asked for yesterday.

    If Melinda acted surprised that the documents could be available so soon, I might say "I was expecting you."

    If someone other than Melinda had asked that documents be prepared for Melinda, then I might say "I've been expecting you."

    "I was expecting" is more likely when the expecting has ended, whether because Melinda has arrived or because Melinda called to say she was not coming, but it could refer to expecting in the past without any implication of an end to the expecting:

    I said I was expecting you. = I said, "I am expecting Melinda today."
     
    Forero, my hero (OK, I've got a number of WRF heroes but you're certainly one of them!), as so often you have lucidly explained what to me was just a muddle:thumbsup:
     
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    Forero said:
    If I were the librarian, I would say one of these:

    I've got the documents you asked for yesterday.
    Here are the documents you asked for yesterday.

    If Melinda acted surprised that the documents could be available so soon, I might say "I was expecting you."

    If someone other than Melinda had asked that documents be prepared for Melinda, then I might say "I've been expecting you."

    "I was expecting" is more likely when the expecting has ended, whether because Melinda has arrived or because Melinda called to say she was not coming, but it could refer to expecting in the past without any implication of an end to the expecting:

    I said I was expecting you. = I said, "I am expecting Melinda today."
    Click to expand...

    I'm afraid I don't entirely agree with your interpretation, at least from a BE standpoint and relating to a local library. In BE the librarian/receptionist is quite likely to say something like: "Oh, Hello! I've been expecting you." as a friendly introductory gesture, having talked to her the previous day and having got the information that Melinda had asked for. In a similar vein, the same person might just as well say "Oh, Hello. I was expecting you." again without any special connotation other than the fact the she supposed that Melinda was going to turn up sometime that day.
     
    P, I don't think there's a BrE/AmE difference here. I'm with Forero, as I said earlier.

    But I do agree that both tenses are possible.
     
    kuleshov said:
    "I've been expecting you" emphasizes that the librarian was really looking forward to seeing her again, whereas "I was expecting you" is used when you want to sound less direct, to distance yourself from what you may be feeling or not, and so it sounds more polite and adequate.
    I wouldn't use the first expression. I would actually freak out if someone told me that!
    Click to expand...


    I'm honestly surprised that anyone disagrees with this. (Apart from the bit about necessarily "really looking forward", as in thrilled: it's hardly always that emphatic.)
     
    Porteño said:
    I'm afraid I don't entirely agree with your interpretation, at least from a BE standpoint and relating to a local library. In BE the librarian/receptionist is quite likely to say something like: "Oh, Hello! I've been expecting you." as a friendly introductory gesture, having talked to her the previous day and having got the information that Melinda had asked for. In a similar vein, the same person might just as well say "Oh, Hello. I was expecting you." again without any special connotation other than the fact the she supposed that Melinda was going to turn up sometime that day.
    Click to expand...

    Agreed.
     
    toshev said:
    I'm honestly surprised that anyone disagrees with this. (Apart from the bit about necessarily "really looking forward", as in thrilled: it's hardly always that emphatic.)
    Click to expand...

    I do. I was quite (AE = very) surprised by Kuleshov's interpretation. Noting the names, I'm curious if this perhpas has something to do with how the present imperfect is used in Slavic languages.

    As an AE speaker, I find the two sentences just about identical in terms of everyday usage. Under the described circumstances, I could hear either one and understand the same thing. Having said that, I hasten to add that I consider I've been expecting to be the better of the two. I was expecting could imply that the librarian had given up hope, or considered the person to be late.
     
    estefanos said:
    As an AE speaker, I find the two sentences just about identical in terms of everyday usage. Under the described circumstances, I could hear either one and understand the same thing. Having said that, I hasten to add that I consider I've been expecting to be the better of the two. I was expecting could imply that the librarian had given up hope, or considered the person to be late.
    Click to expand...

    Now Loob isn't the only one with a hero!:) This was my point exactly, Estefanos. To me, you can't get away from the fact that "I was expecting" means I did expect you to arrive but at some point, I gave up that expectation (for whatever reason). Because "I was expecting" seems to be used so often to mean "I have been expecting", I would understand them to mean the same thing if I heard them. I just think that, technically, in this context, "I have been expecting you" is the more correct phrase.

    As for Kuleshov and Toshev's interpretation that "I've been expecting you" is somehow indicative of the librarian's eagerness to see Melinda (even to Kuleshov saying "I would actually freak out if someone told me that"), I am at a loss. Something has been lost in the translation...
     
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