[Grammar] I was told to be waiting outside the station at 6 o'clock.

[kadioguy]

a. I was told to be waiting outside the station at 6 o'clock. (From Practical English usage 3rd 418.5)

b. I was told to wait outside the station at 6 o'clock. (My sentence)
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What is the difference in meaning between them?

A friend told me, "The first one (continuous) indicates that there's a duration to the waiting. The second just means at that instant (6 o'clock) you should wait. If this were used in a conversation, they would mean the same thing; the difference is slight."

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So I think that (a) literally means that the person had to wait outside the station before 6 o'clock, so that at 6 o'clock they could be (already) waiting there.

Is that right?

 

[tedmc]

Only b is natural. A native speaker would not say a, so don't bother about it.

 

[5jj]

(a) is more natural than (b). As you suggest, kadioguy. (a) has the idea of duration, and of an activity started before the time mentioned.

 

[5jj]

A native speaker would not say a,

Michael Swan and I would.

 

[sebawrite]

It's true that A is more natural. I'd take it one step further and say a native speaker would probably omit the word waiting and just say,

I was told to be outside the station at 6 o'clock.

The fact that you're waiting for something to happen is implied. (Although that also sounds like you're reporting the fact to someone...)

 

[Phaedrus]

a. I was told to be waiting outside the station at 6 o'clock. (From Practical English usage 3rd 418.5)

b. I was told to wait outside the station at 6 o'clock. (My sentence)
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What is the difference in meaning between them? . . .

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So I think that (a) literally means that the person had to wait outside the station before 6 o'clock, so that at 6 o'clock they could be (already) waiting there.

Is that right?

Yes. I think the reason (a) is more natural than (b) is that waiting is not normally an activity that one speaks of starting to do punctually at a certain time without some addition, as in the construction "Go outside and wait at six o'clock." But the difference can easily be brought out with "sit":

a1. I was told to sit outside the station at 6 o'clock.
b1. I was told to be sitting outside the station at 6 o'clock.

In (a1), the speaker is to start sitting there punctually at that time. In (b1), the speaker is to be sitting there already at that time. In the latter case, he will of course need to have started sitting there at an earlier time, even if he starts sitting there just a few minutes before that time.

 

[Tarheel]

Bob: Wait for me outside the station.
Bill: What time do you want me to be there?
Bob: Six o'clock.
Bill: OK, I'll be there at six.