[Grammar] Have been ing

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chingchangchong

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1. She is a good tennis player. She has been playing since she was eight.
2. She is a good tennis player. She has played since she was eight

What is the different between 1 and 2?

Grammartically, Both of them are correct. (Just my opinion)
 

Matthew Wai

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I see no difference between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous in this context, but I am not a teacher.
 

Rover_KE

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1. She is a good tennis player. She has been playing since she was eight.
2. She is a good tennis player. She has played since she was eight

What is the difference between 1 and 2?

Grammatically, both of them are correct. (Just my opinion.)
2 is ungrammatical as it lacks a full stop (period).

I agree with Matthew.
 

Raymott

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I'd consider 1 to be more natural, at least in speech.
 

Raymott

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May I ask why you think so?
Thank you.
Because it's what I'd say. ;-)
No, that's not right. I'd say it because it's more natural. This is based on 50+ years of speaking native English. How else can you say whether something sounds more natural or not? I also note that three respected members and commentators seem to agree with me, but that obviously can't be why I think so.
If you want something concrete, 2 sounds stilted, formal, and non-native. It sounds like something an English learner who isn't quite confident with the present perfect continuous would say.

Do you understand something different by what "sounding natural" means?
 

tzfujimino

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Do you understand something different by what "sounding natural" means?
I'm afraid not.:cry: I think we, non-native speakers, have to learn natural English expressions/constructions one by one.
Anyway, I've been learning a lot from you. Thank you. I'll try my best to acquire as much natural English as possible.:-D
 

SoothingDave

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In this case, since the tennis playing is ongoing, the continuous "playing" is more natural.
 

Mary_Poppins

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I'm not a teacher nor a native speaker.
For me the second one sounds wrong. I might be wrong but I think Present Perfect tense is good for a sentence without a definite time, whereas Present Perfect Progressive uses with a time expression. It might be an hour or an another action to compare with.
 

MikeNewYork

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While I prefer the continuous verb, I don't agree that the present perfect is wrong.
 
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