which is correct?
I have been wanting to meet you since I saw your concert.
I want to meet you since I saw you concert.
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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In that meaning, should there be a comma or dash before “since”?
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?
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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And what about ‘I’m loving it’? 
And I met ‘wanting’(as a verb form) quite often.
‘I’m loving it’ (better ‘I’m lovin’ it’ 
) is quite alright but the case is different with ‘want’, I think. As Amy indicated, ‘wanting’ gives a sense of ‘lacking’ with the function of an adjective while “I’m loving” is just as you say ‘I’m studying’.
Hi Haihao
Yes and no. :lol:
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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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 ?
That’s fine.
I’ve been meaning to call you for a long time.
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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What’s the problem with “all this time” there?
[i]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.[/i]