[Grammar] I was working in a hotel for two years when i was a student.

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ercantuncer

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Can I use past continuous when I talked about an action that happened in the past in a period time or should I use past perfect continuous and can you tell me if my sentences and explanations are correct?

1) I was working in a hotel for two years when I was a student. ( I worked in the hotel for 2 years and when I was working there I was a student.)

2) I had been working in a hotel for two years when I was a student. ( I started working there in the past and keep working there until I became a student.)
 
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Before we continue, please click on Edit Post, and capitalise the word "I" each time you have used it, then click Save.
 
Before we continue, please click on Edit Post, and capitalise the word "I" each time you have used it, then click Save.

I have edited my post.Can you answer my questions?
 
Can I use ​the past continuous when I [STRIKE]talked[/STRIKE] talk about an action that happened in the past in a specific period of time or should I use the past perfect continuous? [STRIKE]and[/STRIKE] Can you tell me if my sentences and explanations are correct?

1) I was working in a hotel for two years when I was a student. (I worked in the hotel for 2 years and when I was working there I was a student.)

2) I had been working in a hotel for two years when I was a student. (I started working there in the past and [STRIKE]keep[/STRIKE] kept working there until I became a student.)

Please note my changes above. Don't put a space after an opening bracket. Neither sentence needs any form of the continuous.

I worked in a hotel for two years when I was a student.

In addition, your second sentence's explanation is wrong. If you worked there before you were a student and kept working there until you were a student, then you stopped working there when you became a student.

I was [already] working in a hotel when I became a student. ​(That suggests that you continued working there even after you became a student.)
 
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