I was looking for you OR I've been looking for you?

Gianni   Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:48 pm GMT
Hi!
Please help me. When we meet someone we've been looking for, we normally say I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU.

Why is that we don't say I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU? Wouldn't it make more sense?

Greetings from Europe
Damian in Edinburgh   Sat Sep 03, 2005 12:56 pm GMT
Greetings to Europe

It depends on the time factor although in reality you could use both either way.

If you were referring to the day before, for instance, you would most likely say to the other person: "I was looking for you yesterday"...or whenever.

If you meet up with someone on the same day, knowing that they were in the vicinity or you were expecting to see them, then you would most likely say: "I've been looking for you".
Gjones2   Sat Sep 03, 2005 1:58 pm GMT
"I've been looking for you" implies that the looking continued up to the present. "I was looking for you" means that you looked in the past but then quit (at least momentarily). As Damian in Edinburgh says, either may work in the situation you described because often when people look for somebody, they don't look steadily.

For instance, if I'm in a big office building, and I do some looking, then stop to talk with somebody for a moment, and up comes the person I was looking for, I could say, "I was looking for you." The reason that fits is because I'm not looking at the moment. On the other hand, if I'm going from office to office, looking inside, and I see the person, I wouldn't say, "I was looking for you". I'd say, "I've been looking for you."
Rick Johnson   Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:56 pm GMT
I agree with both the other comments but I can imagine I might use either expression, even given the same situation.