Omitting 'for'

[Anonymous]

Can we omit 'for' in these sentences?
1. Please wait here (for) a minute.
2. I've been waiting for her (for) 20 minutes.
3. She has lived here (for) five years.
4. They are watching TV (for) five hours.
5. They are playing bowling (for) five hours.
6. He is swimming (for) two hours without a rest.
7. He is swimming without a rest (for) two hours.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

You cannot omit 'for' in most of these sentences. They're wrong if you leave it out. The only exception is sentence 1. Also you have made some grammatical errors which I have corrected:

Can we omit 'for' in these sentences?
1. Please wait here (for) a minute.
2. I've been waiting for her (for) 20 minutes.
3. She has lived here (for) five years.
4. They are watching TV (for) five hours.
5. They are playing bowling (for) five hours.
6. He is swimming (for) two hours without a rest.
7. He is swimming without a rest (for) two hours.


1. Please wait here (for) a minute.
2. I've been waiting for her for 20 minutes.
3. She has lived here for five years.
4. They have been watching TV for five hours.
5. They have been bowling for five hours. This sentence does not need "playing bowling" as 'bowling' is a verb on its own.
6. He has been swimming for two hours without a rest(break).
7. He has been swimming without a rest(break) for two hours.

Hope this helps!!!