right or wrong?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hello :slight_smile:

Are the following sentences correct?

A: How long had the doctors been operating on his hand?
B: How long had the doctors operated on his hand?
C: How long did the doctors operate on his hand?

Thanks a lot.

2

This is my opinion only. Don’t take it for sure.

How long have the doctors been operating on his hand?

3

Thanks for the help but I’m referring to a completed action in the past and I want to know which tense to use if I want to ask how long it took for someone to do it. I hope I make sense.

4

Your C.

5

All the sentences are correct in their own contexts. In the context that you explain in your second post, use sentence C.

6

Thanks Beeesnees but would you mind explaining to me the difference between sentence B ( How long had the doctors operated on his hand?) and sentence C (How long did the doctors operate on his hand?) when it comes to their context?

7

There may not be a difference. Commonly they are interchangeable. It depends on the way in which you want to use them and the tenses you have used in the rest of your text.

8

the correct answer is c

9

Hi Hosam,

Welcome to the forums.
Better late than never, thanks. I gave that answer in post #5 :wink:

10

in my opinion…

you can say " how long has the doctor operated on his hand?" if the doctor is still working until this moment.

11

You are right Hosam, but in that case you can also say ‘How long has the doctor been operating on his hand?’