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 Tue Jun 10, 2008 17:04 pm "want" in progressive |
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Hi Sultano
Your first sentence suggests a temporal usage of 'since' (i.e. from a time in the past until now). You could also say 'ever since'.
In your second sentence, the word 'since' seems to mean 'because'.
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Yankee
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| Tue Jun 10, 2008 17:11 pm "want" in progressive |
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| Yankee wrote: |
In your second sentence, the word 'since' seems to mean 'because'.
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In that meaning, should there be a comma or dash before "since"? |
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Molly
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| Tue Jun 10, 2008 18:15 pm "want" in progressive |
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| thank you Yankee for that. but I still have the same question, why is this verb " want " used in progressive " meanwhile this verb can't be used in progressive? |
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Sultano
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| Tue Jun 10, 2008 23:21 pm "want" in progressive |
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Hi Sultano
It isn't true that stative verbs (like 'want') can never be used in the progressive. I think the most you can say is that we use stative verbs far more often in non-progressive forms.
To me, the use of the present perfect progressive in your sentence sounds quite natural. It emphasizes the duration and continuousness of 'my desire to meet you -- a desire which began at the time of the concert and which has unceasingly continued ever since'. The use of the present perfect progressive suggests to me that the desire may have been a little more than a simple state of mind. Perhaps you could say that it hints at an "active state". For example, maybe I have also been endlessly telling people about my desire to meet you ever since the concert.
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| Thu Jun 12, 2008 12:30 pm "want" in progressive |
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And what about 'I'm loving it'? 
And I met 'wanting'(as a verb form) quite often. |
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Inga
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Haihao
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| Thu Jun 12, 2008 13:50 pm "want" in progressive |
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| Quote: | | but the case is different with 'want', I think. |
Hi Haihao
Yes and no. 
Yes, the verb 'want' can also be used to mean 'lack'. Although there are similarities in meaning, the verb 'want' as used in Sultano's sentence has a meaning closer to 'desire'. That's how I see it.
When 'to want' is used with the meaning of 'to desire', it is not uncommon to hear it used in the present perfect progressive. However, it would be much less commonly used in the present progressive (i.e. with the meaning of 'to desire').
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| Thu Jun 12, 2008 21:31 pm "want" in progressive |
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Hi, Amy
I've seen this sentence (or some other very close to it in meaning):
I've been meaning to call you all this time
Do you find it naturally sounding ? |
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lost_soul
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| Thu Jun 12, 2008 21:44 pm "want" in progressive |
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| Sultano wrote: | I have been wanting to meet you since I saw your concert.
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That's fine.
| lost_soul wrote: | | I've been meaning to call you all this time |
I've been meaning to call you for a long time.
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| Fri Jun 13, 2008 0:53 am "want" in progressive |
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Hi Alex
Here is a suggestion for using "all this time":
I've been meaning to call you for months. I bet you're surprised to hear from me after all this time.
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| Fri Jun 13, 2008 0:55 am "want" in progressive |
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| Quote: | | I've been meaning to call you for a long time. |
What's the problem with "all this time" there?
And how about these?
Back door's been open all this time!
I'll be interested to hear what you have been doing all this time.
And you've been eating it all this time!
And it took all this time to get here.
All this time I have been riddled with guilt wondering if I would know his face. |
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Molly
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| "The faster the CPU, the more heat produced." seems wrong, isn't it? | Is this proper use of the word "respect"? |
