Håller på Topic is solved

[Will709432]

Is it possible to say ing, like this...

Jag höll på att väntade.
I was waiting.

Rather than just jag väntade?

And what about this...
Jag höll på att väntade att...
I was waiting for ... something or whatever to happen...
Is the second att needed?

[Crahdol]

No, the Swedish language uses the same tense for what in English would be Past and Past Continuous. It's called preteritum (or sometimes imperfekt).

"I was waiting" would simply be Jag väntade in Swedish. And so would "I waited".

The construct Jag höll på att <verb in dictionary form> is rather used to emphasise what you were actively doing in a certain moment. Or it can be used similar to "I was about to...". Note that it uses dictionary form. So your example should be Jag höll på att vänta, but even though that would be grammatically correct it still sounds wierd. Probably because waiting is not something you actively do, it's more of a passive action, if that makes sense.

[Will709432]

Thanks.

[Will709432]

If I want to emphasise that I was waiting, what about
jag sitter och väntar
Jag satt och väntade

[Crahdol]

If I want to emphasise that I was waiting, what about
jag sitter och väntar
Jag satt och väntade

Hmm, that wouldn't really emphasise the waiting, rather than bring attention to the fact you are/were sitting.

I'd say the best way to emphasise it would be to use the perfekt tense, which is equivalent to Present Perfect tense in English.

Jag har väntat - I have been waiting

I also noticed in your original post you wrote väntade att at some point. In Swedish it's always vänta/väntade/väntat/etc. PÅ.

[Will709432]

Great , so I could say something like Sedan dess har jag väntat...

Been mining sentences from books like crazy I'm reading but still quite a few things about Swedish I find very tricky, so thanks again for all the help.

[Crahdol]

Great , so I could say something like Sedan dess har jag väntat...

Yes, you could. It would be equivalent to "Since then, I've been waiting..." Of course, it would have to be preceded by whatever marks the starting point of you waiting.

The following is also valid, and means the same:
Jag har väntat på <A> sedan <B>. - "I've been waiting for <A> since <B>."