[Grammar] I've been reading this book for an hour.

[kadioguy]

'I read the book for one hour' works in both cases.

But if it is so, what is the difference between the two cases?

 

[GoesStation]

But if it is so, what is the difference between the two cases?

Ems was demonstrating that we use the same sentence in both cases.

 

[kadioguy]

Ems was demonstrating that we use the same sentence in both cases.

But I don't know what is the difference between the two cases.
Both cases seem to look the same to me.

 

[emsr2d2]

The difference I was trying to get across is that in the first one, you read it for one hour at some point in the past and you might carry on reading it in the future, and in the second case you read it for one hour at some point in the past and you have no intention of ever picking it up again.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

But I don't know what is the difference between the two cases.
Both cases seem to look the same to me.

Yes. They are the same. That's the point. In both of those cases, "I have read the book for one hour" is wrong and "I read the book for one hour" is right.

If someone asks you how long you've been reading the book, you could say "I have been reading the book for one hour." But "I have read the book for one hour" would be wrong there, too.

"I have read the book for one hour" is just a highly unlikely thing to say, even if the grammar is okay. We're separating what's logical and natural English from what isn't.

 

[jutfrank]

I just want to know whether "I have read the book for an hour" is correct or natural.

The direct answer is: Yes, it could be correct and natural under the right circumstances. The next question would be: Under what circumstances would it be correct and natural? Is it possible to come up with a hypothetical situation where this phrase would be correct?

With enough imagination, yes, it is possible, but not without forcing such an unlikely and artificial hypothetical scenario, that to all extents and purposes, we, as teachers, would be persuaded to say that it is not correct under any normal circumstances.