present perfect simple vs continuous

[DominikP]

Hello

I have been studying all day.

This is the normal (and most common) way to say that I have been studying all day and now I am tired etc.
However I also meet with sentences like:

I have studied all day.


The two sentences above are perfectly normal however the thing I am struggling with is that sometimes present perfect simple "version" is not (ar at least is less) acceptable and I don´t know why. For example "I have written letters all day" is one of those sentences which I was told was not correct - don´t really understand what makes that huge difference compare to the sentence "I have studied all day". Teacher told me that she can´t imagine a context where should could use "I have written letters all day".

I´ll give you another examples I did with my teacher:

I have used this racket (tennis racket) for 10 years.
( Now I will start using a new type) - in her opinion this sounds ok and could be used.

I have used this phrase for months and nobody has ever told me it wasn't correct English.

Here,for some reason, my teacher wouldn't use present perfect simple and instead she would prefer to use present perfect continuous. HoweverI don´t see much difference between this sentence and the one above.




Would it be possible to explain me, please, why sometimes one sentence is possible and another is not even though they are very similar to each other. I´d really like to learn to use this "strange" use of present perfect simple. If you could give me some examples showing in which context it might be possible to use present perfect simple sentences - it would mean world to me.

[Alan]

Your confusion is most understandable, since this point is often not fully treated in textbooks for learners.

Essentially, it is a matter of naturalness rather than strict grammaticality/ungrammaticality, but when a dynamic verb (i.e. one possessing continuous tense-forms) refers to an action performed continuously over a long period, it is often possible to substitute a present (or, indeed, past) perfect simple for the progressive form that learners are typically taught to use, usually with no significant difference in meaning.

This usage tends naturally to apply to some verbs much more frequently than others, but common examples include 'work' as in

I've worked at this company for ten years.

(= I've been working...)

'play' as in

I've played chess ever since I was a child.

(=I've been playing...)

and 'teach' as in

I've taught French for twenty-five years.

(=I've been teaching...).

From a technical viewpoint, the action denoted by the verb is considered more akin to a long-lasting state (i.e. 'work' = 'BE an employee', 'teach French' = BE a French teacher, etc.) than to a simple action, hence the simple form, as with a stative verb, is felt to be as natural as the progressive.

I hope that helps!