from 2:00 to 4:30 / for two hours and a half

[IlyaTretyakov]

How do you say these two different types of actions correctly with words like "from... to ..." and "for ..."?

The first situation is:
This is a durative action without a logic completion. They started playing tennis at 2:00 and finished at 4:30. So at 4:00 they were playing tennis. And other actions of this kind.
to play tennis
to ride on a bicycle
to talk politics
to listen to the radio
to walk in the street
to swim in a lake
to watch TV

And the second situation is:
This is a durative action with a logic completion possible. He started climbing a mountain at 1:00 and finished at 6:30. So at 6:00 he was climbing the mountain. At 6:31 he was on the top of the mountain. And other actions of this kind.
to climb a mountain
to read a book
to write a book
to build a ship
to draw a picture
to paint a masterpiece
to knit a sweater
to walk home
to swim across a lake
to watch a movie

How do you say these two different types of actions correctly with words like "from... to ..." and "for ..."?

The first type of action:
They played tennis from 2:00 to 4:30.
or
They were playing tennis from 2:00 to 4:30.

They played tennis for 2 hours and a half.
or
They were playing tennis for 2 hours and a half.

The second type of action:
He climbed the mountain from 1:00 to 6:30.
or
He was climbing the moutain from 1:00 to 6:30.

He climbed the mountain for 5 hours and a half.
or
He was climbing the mountain for 5 hours and a half.

 

[emsr2d2]

The first type of action:
1. They played tennis from 2:00 to 4:30.
or
2. They were playing tennis from 2:00 to 4:30.

3. They played tennis for 2 hours and a half two and a half hours. with my correction.
or
4. They were playing tennis for 2 hours and a half two and a half hours. with my correction.

The second type of action:
5. He climbed the mountain from 1:00 to 6:30. Unnatural.
or
6. He was climbing the mountain from 1:00 to 6:30. although I'd say "between 1pm and 6.30pm".

7. He climbed the mountain for 5 hours and a half five and a half hours. with my correction.
or
8. He was climbing the mountain for 5 hours and a half five and a half hours. with my correction.

See my corrections and comments above. Remember that we write all numbers under 21 in words, not digits. The natural way to express "2.5" is "two and a half". The exception to this, when talking about time, is "an hour and a half" (1.5 hours).

 

[IlyaTretyakov]

See my corrections and comments above.

Thank you. As I see it, we can use (almost) any of them.

But is there any difference?
"He painted it from 1503 to 1507" "He painted it for 4 years"
and
"He was painting it from 1503 to 1507" "He was painting it for 4 years"

 

[5jj]

Yes. As I have told you in other thread, the continuous aspect places more importance on the duration and on-goingness of the situation.

 

[IlyaTretyakov]

places more importance on the duration and on-goingness

What do you mean by on-goingness?
Something like "He was painting it for 4 years without stopping?"
If not, what do you mean?

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you. As I see it, we can use (almost) any of them. but Is there any difference between the following two sentences?

1. "He painted it from 1503 to 1507" "He painted it for 4 four years."
and
2. "He was painting it from 1503 to 1507" "He was painting it for 4 four years."

What do you mean by on-goingness?
Something like "He was painting it for 4 four years without stopping?"
If not, what do you mean?

No, "ongoingness" doesn't mean "non-stop". You need to use logic here. What are the chances that someone painted something non-stop for four years? Both sentences 1 and 2 would be taken to mean that he started painting it in 1503 and finished it in 1507. He might have worked on it every day, or once a month, or at irregular intervals, or done 70% of it in 1503 and the other 30% in 1507. It doesn't matter. We're talking about the start and finish dates.

Note my corrections to your two most recent posts above. Earlier in the thread, I told you that we write numbers under 21 in words, not digits, yet you wrote "4" instead of "four" three times in those two posts. We like to see that you are taking notice of our advice so please make sure you look at our corrections closely and avoid making the same errors again.

 

[IlyaTretyakov]

What are the chances that someone painted something non-stop for four years?

This is what I'm talking about. It's impossible to work for 4 years without stopping. But I was told this:

importance on the duration and on-goingness of the situation

and this is why I wondered what it meant, what the difference between 'on-goingness' and 'none-on-goingness' in those examples accroding to 5jj's words was.
Yet there is no answer to it. As if you don't know it yourselves.

Note my corrections to your two most recent posts above. Earlier in the thread, I told you that we write numbers under 21 in words, not digits, yet you wrote "4" instead of "four" three times in those two posts. We like to see that you are taking notice of our advice so please make sure you look at our corrections closely and avoid making the same errors again.

If people I talk to are able to understand me, that's great.

 

[emsr2d2]

This is what I'm talking about. It's impossible to work for 4 four years without stopping. But I was told this:

And yet again, you have made the same mistake. Please don't lead us to believe we are wasting our time helping you.

and This is why I wondered what it meant; what the difference between 'on-goingness' and 'none non-on-goingness' in those examples according to 5jj's words was.
Yet there is no answer to it. It's as if you don't know it yourselves.

There is no need to be snarky. We understand the difference. Perhaps we simply haven't found the right way to explain it to you yet.

If people I talk to are able to understand me, that's great.

That is great. I agree. However, our aim here is to help all learners to speak and write English correctly. That means that we correct all errors. Don't forget that you are not the only learner here. Other users will also be reading your threads and we would be doing everyone a great disservice if we left errors in place.