He has been sitting here for a hour vs He has been sitting here for the hour

Both phrases are almost correct, but the first one has a small error. The correct phrase is "he has been sitting here for an hour." The second phrase is also correct but has a slightly different meaning, referring to a specific hour rather than a general duration.

Last updated: March 26, 2024 • 4234 views

He has been sitting here for a hour

This phrase is incorrect due to the article "a" missing before "hour."

The correct phrase should be "he has been sitting here for an hour," using the indefinite article "a" before "hour" to indicate a general duration of time.

Show examples from the web [+]

We've been sitting here like two hours, dude.
We have been sitting here for an hour.
We've been sitting here for an hour.
We've been sitting here an hour and no one's mentioned Molly's hair.
We've been sitting here for hours and nobody's even glanced at my painting.
I've been sitting here for an hour, waiting for you.
We've been sitting here for three hours.
[drill whirs] We have literally been sitting here for an hour.
You've been sitting here alone for hours, dude.
I can't believe my client has been sitting here for over 24 hours without being charged.
I've been sitting for hours.
He's been sitting ten hours a day.
Excuse me. No, I don't mean to be rude. It's just I've been sitting for hours.
I'm sitting here an hour.
Either that if the girls are sitting here four hours.
You've been sitting there for hours.
We've been sitting here talking for hours... and you're going to insult me like I have no idea what you really do?
I've been sitting here for an hour and a half!
You realize we've been sitting here for 14 hours?
She's been sitting there for five hours.

Alternatives:

he has been sitting here for an hour
he has been sitting here for hours
he has been sitting here for a long time
he has been sitting here for quite a while
he has been sitting here for a short period

He has been sitting here for the hour

This phrase is correct and refers to a specific hour rather than a general duration of time.

This phrase is used when referring to a specific hour, such as waiting for a particular time to arrive or an event to occur.

Show examples from the web [+]

We've been sitting here like two hours, dude.
We have been sitting here for an hour.
We've been sitting here for an hour.
We've been sitting here an hour and no one's mentioned Molly's hair.
We've been sitting here for hours and nobody's even glanced at my painting.
I've been sitting here for an hour, waiting for you.
We've been sitting here for three hours.
[drill whirs] We have literally been sitting here for an hour.
You've been sitting here alone for hours, dude.
I can't believe my client has been sitting here for over 24 hours without being charged.
I've been sitting for hours.
He's been sitting ten hours a day.
Excuse me. No, I don't mean to be rude. It's just I've been sitting for hours.
I'm sitting here an hour.
Either that if the girls are sitting here four hours.
You've been sitting there for hours.
We've been sitting here talking for hours... and you're going to insult me like I have no idea what you really do?
I've been sitting here for an hour and a half!
You realize we've been sitting here for 14 hours?
She's been sitting there for five hours.

Alternatives:

he has been sitting here for an hour
he has been sitting here for hours
he has been sitting here for a long time
he has been sitting here for quite a while
he has been sitting here for a short period

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

He has been sitting here for a hour vs He has been sitting here for the hour