Present perfect VS. present perfect continuous

Question

Hi,I want to see whether both of the following sentences are acceptable or not:1- All my life, I've loved going to the cinema.2- All my life, I've been loving to go to the cinema.Regards,Iman

JohnParis · Accepted Answer

N° 1 is fine, but not N° 2.

Imantaghavi · Answer

Hi John,
Thank you very much for your reply, but I want to see whether present perfect continuous is possible or not.
And if yes what's the correct form of it in the given example.

Thank you in advance,

Iman

CalifJim · Answer

imantaghaviI want to see whether both of the following sentences are acceptable or not:

1- All my life, I've loved going to the cinema.
2- All my life, I've been loving to go to the cinema.

Only the first is correct.

'love' is not used in any continuous tense followed by an infinitive that tells the activity that one loves to do.

I'm loving to ..., I was loving to ..., He will be loving to .... All of these combinations are ungrammatical.

CJ

Imantaghavi · Answer

Hi CJ,

Thank you for your reply very much.
So, you mean the problem is the use of the verb "love" which can't be followed by an infinitive and there's no problem with the use of present perfect continuous, right?

Regards,

Iman

CalifJim · Answer

imantaghaviSo, you mean the problem is the use of the verb "love" which can't be followed by an infinitive and there's no problem with the use of present perfect continuous, right?

'love' in a non-continuous tense is frequently followed by an infinitive.

He loves to dance. She loved to sing.

But it's not used that way in a continuous tense.

*He is loving to dance. *She is loving to sing.

On a rare occasion 'love' is used in the continuous, but not with an infinitive.

They were all laughing and having a good time. He was loving every minute of it.

In short, 'love' is almost always used in a non-continuous tense.

CJ

Present perfect VS. present perfect continuous

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions